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Books by Egerton R. Young. 



BY CANOE AND DOG TRAIN. 

Illustrated. Crown 8vo. $1.25 

STORIES FROM INDIAN WIGWAMS AND 
NORTHERN CAMP FIRES. 

Illustrated Crown 8vo. $1.25 

OOWIKAPUN; or. How the Gospel Reached 
the Nelson River Indians. 

Illustrated. 12ino. $1.00 

THREE BOYS IN THE WILD NORTH LAND. 

(In Press.) 



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'1 



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" In majestic circles it slowly ascended to its eyrie." 






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OOWIKAPUN 



OR 



How THE Gospel Reached the Nelson 
River Indians 

By EGERTON RYERSON YOUNG 

Author of"*^ By Canoe and Dog Train;'''' '"'' Indian Wigwams and 
Northern Camp-fires^'' etc. 



niamonds of Truth wrapped in Fictit ii's gilded settinf^ 
A nosegay of Facts tied with the ribb n of Romance 




LIBRARY 



NEW YORK: EATON & MAINS 
ATI : CURTS & JENNINGS 



*^'r;»TCHell^*^ J^N 2 64 



233816 



Copyright by 

Eaton & mains. 

1896. 



Eaton & Mains Pkbss, 
150 Fifth Avenue, New York. 



1 




CONTENTS. 




I 


CHAKFER I. 




1 


The Wolf Trap 


CHAPTER II. 


PAGB 

5 


^^B 


A Contrast 


" 




^B 






21 


'^m 




CHAPTER III. 




I 


Oowikapun's Vision 


CHAPTER IV. 


- 33 


■ 


A Strange Benefactor - - - . 


45 


^m 




CHAPTER V. 




I 


The Maiden's Story 


CHAPTER VI. 


- 56 


1 


Hunting Wild Geese 


CHAPTER VII. 


- 72 


1 


Mookoomis and his 


Legends -, _ . 
CHAPTER VIII. 


85 


1 


Seeking for Light 


CHAPTER IX. 


96 


H 


Physical Torture 


*■ ^ _ ' 


- 116 


^M 




CHAPTER X. 




^[B 


A Mortal Wound 






j| 




CHAPTER XI. 


- 131 


*Hf 


The Rescue 







142 



y. 



4 Contents. 

CHAPTER XII. PAGE 

A Noble Ambition -156 

CHAPTER XIII. 
The Sudden Disappearance - - - - - 1 70 

CHAPTER XIV. 
In Need of a Missionary - - - - - - 183 

CHAPTER XV. 
The Missionary on his Journey - - - - 196 

CHAPTER XVI. 
The Missionary at Work - 211 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Norway House Revisited _ _ _ _ . 224 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 

" In majestic circles it slowly ascended to its eyrie." 

Frontispiece. 
" Oowlkapun sprang back to the nearest tree " - 28 
"Some one had had compassion on him " - - 49 
"She found herself almost face to face with Oowl- 
kapun " 57 

*' Fun-loving, happy boys " - - - - - 65 

" Like white folks, would gossip a little " - - - 83 

At Edmonton - - - - - - - - 122 

Head of the Catamount - - - - - - 147 

An Indian Football Team 157 

Indians— Old and Young - - - - - - 182 

A Group of Indian Children and Missionary - - 197 

An Indian Brass Band ------ 225 



OOWIKAPUN; 



OR, 



How THE Gospel Reached the Nelson 
River Indians. 



CHAPTER I. 
The Wolf Trap. 

|"" """"" "1HAT Oowikapun was unhappy, 
T^ I strangely so, was evident to all in 
I the Indian village. New thoughts 
deeply affecting him had in some 
way or other entered into his mind, and he 
could not but show that they were producing 
a, great change in him. 

The simple, quiet, monotonous life of the 
young Indian hunter was curiously broken in 
upon, and he could never be the same again. 
There had come a decided awakening; the 
circle of his vision had suddenly enlarged, and 
he had become aware of the fact that he was 



1 



6 OOWIKAPUN. 

something more than he imagined. While, in 
his simple faith, he had paddled along the 
beautiful rivers, or wandered through the wild 
forests of his country, catching the fish or 
hunting the game, where at times he had heard 
the thunder's crash and seen the majestic tree 
riven by the lightning's power, and perhaps in 
these seasons of nature's wild commotion had 
"seen God in cloud and heard him in the 
wind," yet until very lately he had never \ 
heard of anything which had caused him to 
imagine that he was in any way aliiv^d to that 
Great Spirit, or was in any way responsible to , 
him. 

What was the cause of this mental dis- 
quietude, of these long hours of absorbing 
thought? 

To answer these inquiries we must go back 
a little, and accompany him on a hunting trip 
which he made in the forest months ago. 

Hearing from some other hunters of a place 
where gray wolves were numerous, and being - 
ambitious to kill some of these fierce brutes, (. 
that he might adorn his wigwam with their 
warm skins, he took his traps and camping outfit 



M 



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•r"». 



The Wolf Trap. 



and set out for that region of country, although 
it was more than two hundred miles away. 
Here he found tracks in abundance, and so 
before he made his little hunting lodge in the 
midst of a spruce grove, he set his traps for the 
jfierce wolves in a spot which seemed to be a 
rallying place of theirs. As they are very sus- 
picious and clever, he carefully placed two 
traps close together and sprinkled them over 
with snow, leaving visible only the dead rab- 
bits which served as bait. Then scattering 
more snow over his own tracks as he moved 
away, in order to leave as little evidence of his 
haying been there as possible, he returned to 
his little tentlike lodge and prepared and ate 
his supper, smoked his pipe, and then wrap- 
ping himself up in his blanket was soon fast 
asleep. Very early next morning he was up 
and off to visit his traps. His ax was slipped 
in his belt, and his gun, well loaded, was car- 
ried ready for use if necessary. When he had 
got within a few hundred yards of the place 
where he had set his heavy traps, he heard the 
rattling of the chains which were attached to 
them, each fastened to a heavy log. This 



/ 






m 



8 



OOWIKAPUN, 



■• 






sound, while it made his heart jump, was very 
welcome, for it meant that he had been success* 
ful. When he drew near the spot where he 
had set the traps, he found that a fierce old 
wolf, in trying to get the rabbit from one of 
them without springing it, had got caught in 
the other, and although both of his hind legs 
were held by the sharp teeth of the trap, he 
had managed to drag it and the heavy log fas- 
tened to it to quite a distance. 

When Oowikapun drew near, the wolf made 
the most desperate efforts to escape ; but the 
strong trap held him securely, and the heavy 
log on the chain made it impossible for him to 
get far away. 

Oowikapun could easily have shot him, but 
ammunition was dear and the bullet hole in 
the skin would be a blemish, and the sound, 
of the gun might scare away the game that 
might be near ; so he resolved to kill the wolf 
with the back of his ax. Better would it 
have been for him if he had shot him at once. 
Sp putting down his gun he took his ax out 
of his belt and cautiously approached the 
treacherous brute. The sight of the man so 



The Wolf Trap. 



near seemed to fill him with fury, and, unable 
to escape, he made the most desperate efforts 
to reach him. His appearance was demoniacal, 
and his howls and snarls would have terrified 
almost anybody else than an experienced, 
cool-headed hunter. 

Oowikapun, seeing what a,n ugly customer 
he had to deal with, very cautiously kept just 
beyond the limits of the fearful plunges which 
the chain would allow the wolf to make, and 
keenly watched for an opportunity to strike 
him on the head. So wary and quick was th6 
wolf that some blows received only maddened 
without disabling him. 

Oowikapun at length, becoming annoyed 
that he should have any difficulty in killing an 
entrapped wolf, resolved to end the conflict at 
once with a decisive blow ; and so with up- 
raised ax he placed himself as near as he 
thought safe, and waited for the infuriated 
brute to spring at him. But so much force 
did the entrapped brute put into that spring 
that it carried the log aftached to the chain 
along with him, and his sharp, glittering fang- 
like teeth snapped together within a few inches 



10 



OOWIKAPUN. 



of Oowikapun's throat, and such was the force 
of the concussion that he was hurled backward, 
and ere he could assume the aggressive, the 
sharp teeth of the wolf had seized his left arni, 
which he threw up for defense, and seemed to 
cut down to the very bone, causing intense 
pain. But Oowikapun was a brave man and 
cool-headed, so a few blows from the keen edge 
of the ax in his right hand finished his foe, 
whose only weapons were his sharp teeth, and ^ 
he was soon lying dead in the snow ; but his 
beautiful skin was about worthless as a robe on 
account of the many gashes it had received, 
much to the annoyance of Oowikapun, who 
had not dreamed of having so severe a battle. 
The traps were soon reset and Oowikapun, 
with the heavy wolf on his back, set out for 
his camp. As he had set some smaller traps 
for minks and martens in a different direction, 
he turned aside to visit them. This would 
cause him to return to his camp by another 
trail. While moving along under his heavy 
load he was surprised to come across the '^ (. 
snowshoe tracks of another hunter. He ex- 
amined them carefully, and decided that they 



I 

I 



The Wolf Trap. 



It 



were made by some person who must have 
passed along there that very morning, early as 
it was. 

As the trail of this stranger, whoever it 
could be, was in the direction of the traps 
which Oowikapun wished to visit, he followed 
them up. When he reached his traps he found 
that a mink had been caught in one of them, 
but the stranger had taken it out and hung it 
up in plain sight above the trap on the branch 
of a tree. Then the stranger, putting on fresh 
bait, had reset the trap. Of course Oowikapun 
was pleased with this, and delighted that the 
stranger, whoever he was, had acted so honestly 
and kindly toward him. 

Fastening the mink in his belt he hurried on 
to his camp as fast as he could under his 
heavy load, for his wounded arm had begun to 
swell and was causing him intense pain. His 
stoical Indian nature would have caused him 
to withstand the pain with indifference, but 
when he remembered how the wolf, maddened 
by his capture, had wrought himself up into 
such a frenzy that his mouth was all foaming 
with madness when he made that last desperate 



13 



OOWIKAPUN. 



Spring and succeeded in fastening his fangs in 
his arm, he feared that perhaps some of the 
froth might have gOc into his arm, and unless 
some remedies were quickly obtained, madness 
might come to him, to be followed by a most 
dreadful death. 

But what could he do? He was several days* 
journey from his own village, and many miles 
from any hunter of his acquaintance. He had, 
in his vanity, come alone on this hunting ex- 
pedition, and now alone in the woods, far away 
from his friends, here he is in his little hunting 
lodge, a dangerously wounded man. 
■ Fortunately he had taken the precaution of 
sucking as many of the wounds as he could 
reach with his mouth, and then had bound a 
deerskin thong on his arm above the wound 
as tightly as he could draw it. 

Very few, comparatively, were the diseases 
among the aboriginal tribes of America before 
the advent of the white man. Their vocation 
as hunters^ however, rendered them liable to 
many accidents. ^^ v; 

Possessing no firearms, and thus necessarily 
obliged to come in close contact with the sav- 



w 



The Wolf Trap 



«3 



age beasts in their conflict with them, they 
were often severely wounded. 

Fortunate was it for the injured one if he 
had companions near when the bone was frac- 
tured or the flesh torn. If, when accidents oc- 
cur, the injuries are not considered very 
desperate, a little camp is improvised and with 
a day or two of rest, with some simple rem- 
edies from nature's great storehouse — the 
forest — a cure is quickly effected. If a leg or 
arm is broken, a stretcher of young saplings is 
skillfully prepared, interwoven with broad 
bands of soft bark, and on this elastic, easy 
couch the wounded man is rapidly carried to 
his distant wigwam by his companions. 

When there are but two persons, and an ac- 
cident happens to one of them, two young 
trees that are tough and elastic are used. Then 
tops of small branches are allowed to remain, 
and very much diminish the jolting caused by 
thf ''nequalities of the ground. No carriage 
spring ever more successfully accomplished its 
purpose. A couple of cross bars preserve the 
saplings in position, and the bark of some va- 
rieties of shrubs or trees cut into bands and 



. i^: 



■> •■ 



14 



OOWIKAPUN. 



joined to either side forms a comfortable 
couch. In this way an injured man has often 
been dragged many miles by his companion, 
and in some instances it has been found on his 
arrival at his forest home that the fractured 
bones were uniting, and soon the limb was 
whole aofain. 

With these healthy, simple children of the 
forest wounds heal with great rapidity and 
fractured bones soon unite. This reparative 
power of the Indians when injured is only par- 
alleled by the wonderful stoicism with which 
they bear injuries, and at times inflict upon 
themselves the severest torture. With flints 
as substitutes for lances, they will cut open the 
largest abscesses to the very bone. They will 
amputate limbs with their hunting knives, 
checking the hemorrhage with red-hot stones 
as was done long years ago by the surgeons 
of Europe. ' :><■'.- 

With marvelous nerve many a wounded 
hunter or warrior has been known to amputate 
his own limb, or sew up with sinew the gaping 
wounds received in conflict with the hostile foe 
or savage beast. They were cognizant of the 

■ ^v^ ■/-^. ■■■■"■' : ' • ■. .\ 



The Wolf Trap. 



;'• 



IS 



value, and extensively used warm fomentations. 
If rheumatism or other kindred diseases as- 
sailed them, the Turkish bath in a very simple 
form was often used. Sometimes a close tent 
of deerskins served the purpose. The patient 
was put in a little tent where, in a hollow under 
him) heated stones were placed, over which 
' water was thrown until the confined air was 
heated to the required temperature and satu- 
rated with the steam, 

Oowikapun had fortunately broken no bones 
in his battle with the savage wolf, but he knew 
that his wounds were dangerous. Some of 
them were so situated in his arm that he could 
not reach them with his mouth in order that 
he might suck out the poisonous saliva of the 
wolf that he feared might be in them, and it 
now being in the depth of winter, he could not 
obtain the medicinal herbs which the Indians 
use as poultices for dangerous wounds of this 
description. 

While brooding over his misfortune he sud- 
denly remembered the snowshoe tracks of the 
stranger, and at once resolved to try and find 
his lodge, and secure help. To decide was to 



/" 



f;\ 



z6 



OOWIKAPUN. 



act. The few preparations necessary were 
soon made, and taking the most direct route 
to the spot where he had last seen the trail of 
the stranger he was soon in it. He was un- 
certain at first whether to go backward or for- 
ward on it in order to reach the wigwam, for 
he had not the remotest idea whether these 
tracks led to it or from it. But his native 
shrewdness came into play to solve the ques- 
tion. First he noticed from the way the shoes 
sunk in the snow that the man was carrying a 
heavy load ; next he observed that the tracks 
were not like those of a hunter going out from 
his home, moving about cautiously looking for 
game, but were rather those of a man well 
loaded from a successful hunt, and pushing on 
straight for home with his burden. Quickly 
had he read these things and arrived at his con- 
clusions ; so he resolved to go on with the trail, 
and he was not disappointed. He had traveled 
only a few miles, ere in a pleasant grove of bal- 
sam trees, on the borders of a little ice-covered 
lake, he discovered, by the ascending smoke 
from the top, the wigwam of his unknown 
friend. 



The Wolf Trap. 



17 



Without hesitancy he marched up to it, and 
lifting the large moose skin which served as its 
only door, he stooped down and entered in. 
A pleasant fire was burning on the ground in 
the center, and partly circled around it was the 
Indian family. As though Oowikapun had 
been long looked for as an expected, honored 
guest, he was cordially welcomed in quiet In- 
dian style and directed to a comfortable place 
in the circle, the seat of the stranger. The 
pipe of peace was handed to him, and but few 
words were spoken until he had finished it. 

Indian eyes are sharp, even if at times words 
are few ; and it was not many minutes before 
the owner of the wigwam saw that something 
was wrong, and so he drew from him the story 
of the killing of the wolf and his fears that 
perhaps all the froth from his teeth had not 
been rubbed off by the leather shirt and other 
covering through \yhich they had passed as 
they pierced into his arm. 

If Oowikapun had traveled a thousand miles 
he could not have been more fortunate than 
he was in the man to whom he had gone ; for 
this man was Memotas, the best Indian doctor 



I I 



|8 



OOWIKAPUN. 



in all that vast country, who, when his hunting 
seasons were over, spent his time in studying 
the medicinal qualities of the roots and herbs 
of the country which the Good Spirit had 
created for some good purpose, and then in 
being a benediction and a blessing to the 
afflicted ones by their use among them, with 
but very little fee or reward, as a general thing, 
in return. 

Quickly did Memotas apply his remedies, 
both external and internal, for he knew the 
risks the man was running ; and he gently in- 
sisted on his remaining in his wigwam as his 
guest for several days until he was recovered 
from his wounds. He would not even hear of 
his going to visit his traps, for fear of his heat- 
ing his blood by the vigorous exercise, and thus 
aggravating the wounds. So Memotas himself 
looked after them, and several times returned 
with rich spoils of fur-bearing animals, which 
he gladly handed over to the grateful man. 

These great kindnesses completely won the 
heart of Oowikapun, who considefed himself 
very fortunate in finding so kind a friend in 
his hours of need. The kind-hearted wife of 



The Wolf Trap. 



m 



Memotas was also interested in Oowikapun, 
and did all she could to add to his comfort and 
hasten his recovery. The injured man had 
been surprised at the kindness and r -pect 
which Memotas constantly manifested toward 
her, and was amazed that he often asked her 
advice. He did not, as the married men with 
whom Oowikapun was acquainted, treat her 
unkindly, nor even consider her as much 
inferior to himself. 

While Memotas's wife, whose Indian name 
was Meyooachimo'^win, was very industrious, 
and kept her wii^wam and her children tidy and 
clean, yet she was never considered as merely 
a drudge and a slave and left to do all the 
heavy work. Strange to say, she was not 
allowed to cut the wood in the forest and then 
drag it home. Neither did she carry the heavy 
.uckets of water up from the lake, as other In- 
dian women were accustomed to do. Nor did 
she go out into the woods, perhaps miles 
away, and carry home on her back the deer 
which her husband had shot. Memotas never 
would allow her to do anything of the kind. 
He did all this himself, aLnd^^ mAi n ul — Aj yen 

LIBRARY 



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S:^^ATCWie!Sg 



( I 



20 



OOWIKAPUN. 



anxious to save her from fatigue and toil. 
Then when the meals were prepared she was 
not gruffly sent away to wait until the men 
had eaten, but with them and the children she 
sat down on terms of perfect equality. 

Then, as regards the children, a boy and 
girl, whom they called Meyookesik and Saga- 
stao, he noticed that the girl was just as much 
loved and petted as the boy, and even as 
kindly treated. This was a state of affairs en- 
tirely unknown in the wigwams of the pagan In- 
dians. There the boys are petted and spoiled 
a,nd early taught to be proud and haughty, and 
to consider that all girls and women, even 
their own sisters and mother, are much in- 
ferior to them, and only worthy of their kicks 
and contempt. The boys get the best of 
everything and are allowed to eat with the 
men first ; while the poor women and girls 
have to wait until they are finished, and then 
be content with what is left, often not much ; 
and even then they have to struggle with the 
dogs for the fragments. The result is they are 
often half starved. 



p 



A Contrast. 



1^1 



•I 



CHAPTER II. 
A Contrast. 



f— """fOWIKAPUN was bewildered at the 

j rj I marvelous contrast between what he 



&..< 



'■ii«iiaM«Maiil 



had been accustomed to witness in 
the wretched wigwams and lives of 
his own people and what he here saw in this 
bright little tent of Memotas. It was all so new 
and strange to him. Everybody seemed so 
happy. There were no rude words said by the 
boy to his mother and no tyrannizmg over his 
sister. With equal affection Memotas treated 
Meyookesik and Sagastao, and great indeed 
was his kindness and attention to his wife. At 
first Oowikapun's old prejudices and defective 
education as regards women almost made him 
believe that Memotas was lacking in brave, 
manly qualities to allow his wife and daughter 
to be on such loving terms of equality with 
himself and his son. But when he became bet- 
ter acquainted with him, he found that this 
was not the case. 



w 



n 



ta 



OOWIKAPUN. 



Oowikapun could not then solve this ques- 
tion, neither did he until in after years he be- 
came a Christian. < -* 

There was one custom observed in the wig- 
wam of Memotas that gave Oowikapun more 
surprise than any of these to which we have 
referred, for it was something which he had 
never heard of nor seen before. It was that in 
the morning and evening Memotas would take 
out of a bag a little book printed in strange 
characters, and read from it while his wife and 
children reverently and quietly sat around him 
and listened to the strange words. Then they 
would sing in a manner so different from the 
wild, droning, monotonous songs of the con- 
jurers, that Oowikapun was filled with a strange 
feeling of awe, which was much increased when 
they all knelt down reverently on the ground 
and Memotas seemed to talk with the Great 
Spirit and call him his Father. Then he 
thanked him for all their blessings, and asked 
his forgiveness for everything they had done 
that was wrong, and he asked his blessing upon 
his family and everybody else, even upon his 
enemies, if he had any. Then he besought 



■/'■:':' 



A Contrast. 



23 



the Great Spirit to bless Oowikapun, and not 
only heal his wounds, but take the darkness 
from his mind and make him his child. He 
always ended his prayers by asking the Great 
Spirit to do all these things for the sake of his 
Son Jesus. 

All this was very strange and even startling 
to Oowikapun. He had lived all his life in a 
land dark with superstition and paganism. 
The Gospel had as yet never been proclaimed 
there. The name of Jesus had never been 
heard in that wild north land, and so as none of 
the blessedness of religion had entered into the 
hearts of the people, so none of its sweet, lov- 
ing, elevating influences had begun to ennoble 
and bless their lives and improve their habits. 
So he pondered over what he witnessed and 
heard, and was thankful when the day's hunt- 
ing was over, and Memotas would talk to him 
as they sat there on their robes around the 
fire, often for hours at a time. From him he 
learned how it was that they had so changed 
in many of their ways. Memotas told him of 
the coming to Norway House of the first mis- 
sionary, the Rev. James Evans, with the book 



.-v 



\ 



a\ 



- <l 



■IK'- 






III OOWIKAPUN. 

of heaven, the words of the Good Spirit to his 
children. He told him many of the wonder- 
ful things it speaks about, and that it showed 
how man was to love and worship God, and 
thus secure his blessing and favor. The little 
book which Memotas had was composed of 
the four gospels only. These Mr. Evans had 
had printed at the village in Indian letters, 
which he had invented and called " syllabic 
characters." They are so easily learned by 
the Indians, that in a few weeks those who 
were diligent in their studies were able to read 
fluently those portions of the word of God al- 
ready translated for them, as well as a number 
of beautiful hymns. Oowikapun had never 
heard of such things, and was so amazed and 
confounded that he could hardly believe that 
he was in his right mind, especially when 
Memotas, to try and giv ^ him some idea of 
the svllabic characters in which his little book 
was printed, made little sentences with a piece 
of coal on birch bark, and then handed them 
to his wife and children, who easily read out 
what had been written. That birch bark could 
talk, as he expressed it, was a mystery indeed. 



A Contrast. 



as 



When the time came for Oowikapun to re- 
turn to his home Memotas went with him 
quite a distance. He had become very much 
interested m him, and being a happy Chris- 
tian himself, he was anxious that this man, 
who had coma to him and been benefited 
physically, should hear about his soul's need, 
and the great Physician who could heal all its 
diseases. Lovingly and faithfully he talked 
to him and urged him to accept of this great 
salvation. Then he asked him to kneel down 
with him, and there, alone with him and God, 
Memotas prayed earnestly that this dark pagan 
brother might yet come into the light of the 
blessed Gospel. Then he kissed him, and they 
parted, not to meet again for years. 

Happy would it have been for Oowikapun 
if he had responded to Memotas's entreaties 
and become a Christian, but the heart is hard 
and blinded as well as deceitful, and the devil 
is cunning. So long, sad years passed by ere 
Oowikapun, after trying, as we shall see, other 
ways to find peace and soul comfort, humbled 
himself at the cross, and found peace in believ- 
ing on the Lord Jesus Christ. 



"V 



\ 



26 



OOWIKAPUN. 



Oowikapun returned to his little lodge, re- 
kindled the fire, and tried to enter upon his 
hunting life where he had left off when 
wounded by the wolf. He stretched the furs 
already secured, and then early next morning 
visited his traps and spent the rest of the day 
hunting for deer. His success was not very 
great ; the fact is, what he had heard and witr 
nessed during the days of his sojourn in the 
wigwam of Memotas had given him so much 
food for thought that he was not concentrating 
his mind on his work in a manner that would 
bring success. He would sometimes get into 
a reverie so absorbing that he would stop in 
the trail and strive to think over and over 
again what he had heard about the good book 
and its teachings. Very suddenly one day was 
he roused out of one of these reveries. He 
had gone out to visit some traps which he had 
set in a place where he had noticed the tracks 
of wild cats. While going along through a 
dense forest with his gun strapped on his back 
he got so lost in thought that his naturally 
shrewd instincts as a hunter, sharpened by 
practice, seemed to have deserted him, and he 



^•^ 






\ 



i 



.r 




Cowikapun sprang 



tree. 









rn- 



A Contrast. 



39 



nearly stumbled over a huge, old she bear and 
a couple of young cubs. With a growl of rage 
at being thus disturbed the fierce brute rushed 
at him, and quickly broke up his reverie and 
brought him back to a sense of present dan- 
ger. To unstrap his gun in time for its suc- 
cessful use was impossible, but the ever-ready 
sharp pointed knife was available, and so 
Oowikapun, accustomed to such battles, al- 
though never before taken so unexpectedly, 
sprang back to the nearest tree, which fortu- 
nately for him was close at hand. With a large 
tree at his back, and a good knife in his hand, 
an experienced Indian has the advantage on 
his side and can generally kill his savage an- 
tagonist without receiving a wound, but if at- 
tacked by a black bear in the open plain, 
when armed with only a knife, the hunter very 
rarely kills his enemy without receiving a fear- 
ful hug or some dangerous wounds. 

One of the first bits of advice which an old, 
experienced Indian hunter gives to a young 
hunter, be he white or Indian, who goes out 
anxious to kill a bear, or who may possibly 

while hunting for other game be attacked by 
8 




MM 



30 



OOWIKAPUN. 



one, is to get his back up against a tree so 
large that if the bear is not killed by the bul- 
let of his gun, he may be in the best possible 
position to fight him with his knife. It will 
be no child's play, for a wounded, maddened 
bear is a fierce foe. The black bear's method 
of trying to kill his human antagonist is quite 
different from that of the grizzly bear of the 
Rocky Mountains. The grizzly strikes out 
with his dreadful claws with such force that 
he can tear a man to pieces and is able to 
crush down a horse under his powerful blows, 
but the black bear tries to get the hunter in 
his long, strong, armlike fore legs, and then 
crush him to death. The hug of a bear, as 
some hunters know to their cost, is a warm, 
close embrace. Some who, by the quick, skill- 
ful use of their knives, or by the prompt ar- 
rival of a rescue party, have been rescued from 
the almo.t deathly hug, have told me how 
their ribs have been broken and their breast- 
bones almost crushed in by the terrible em- 
brace. I know of several who have been in 
such conflict, and although they managed to 
escape death by driving their knives into 



/ 



A Contrast. 



3» 



some vital spot, yet they had suffered so much 
from broken ribs and other injuries received* 
that they were never as strong and vigorous 
afterward. But with a good tree at his back, 
his trusty knife in his hand, and his brain 
cool, the advantage is all on the side of the 
hunter. 

Among the many stories told of such con- 
flicts, there is one by a Canadian Indian which 
shows that even the women know how to suc- 
cessfully conquer in these encounters. This 
hunter was out looking for game, and had suc- 
ceeded in killing a deer, which he left in the 
woods with his wife, skinning it, while he re- 
turned to his wigwam for his sled on which to 
drag it home, as it was a large one. It was in 
the spring of the year and there was still snow 
on the ground. A great, hungry bear that 
had just left his den after his long winter's 
sleep of months, while prowling about looking 
for food, got on the scent of the blood of the 
newly killed deer, and following it up soon 
reached the spot where the Indian woman was 
skinning the animal. She had just time to 
spring up with the knife in her hand and back 



r 



3a 



OOWIKAPUN. 



up against a tree before the half-famished 
brute sprang on the partly skinned animal and 
began devouring it. Seeing the woman so 
close, he seemed to think it best to get rid of 
her before eating his meat, so with a growl he 
rushed at her. He raised himself up on his 
hind legs and tried to get his fore paws around 
her, and thus crush her to death. She was a 
brave woman and knew what to do. Holding 
the knife firmly in her hand, she waited until 
his hot breath was in her face and he was try- 
ing to crowd his paws in between her back 
and the tree against which she was pressing 
herself with all her might, then with all her 
force she plunged the sharp pointed knife 
into his body in the region of his heart and 
gave it a quick, sharp turn. So thoroughly 
and well did she do her work that the great, 
fierce brute could only throw up his paws and 
fall over dead. The brave squaw had killed 
him without receiving a scratch herself, and 
when her husband returned with his sled he 
found that, not only had his wife skinned the 
deer, but also a big black bear. 



I' 



V. 



i 



Oowikapun's Vision. 



33 



CHAPTER III. 

• ii 

X Oowikapun's Vision. 

10 Oowikapun, though taken off his 

^ I guard for once, was soon himself 
I again, and ere the infuriated brute 
could get her paws around him, one 
quick, vigorous thrust of his knife was suffi- 
cient ; and his antagonist, armed only with 
teeth and claws, lay dead before him. So 
sudden had been the attack, and so quickly 
had come the deliverance, that for the first 
time in his life Oowikapun offered up as well 
as he could words of thanksgiving to the 
Great Spirit for his escape. In his own crude 
way and with the Indian's naturally religious 
instinct and traditions, he had believed in the 
existence of a Good Spirit, which he called 
Kissa-Manito ; and also in the existence of a 
bad spirit, whose name was Muche-Manito ; 
but in what little worship he had engaged 
heretofore he had endeavored to propitiate 
and turn away the malice of the evil spirit, 



34 



OOWIKAPUN. 



li 



rather than to worship the Good Spirit, in 
whom all Indians believe, but about whom he 
had very vague ideas until his visit to the 
Christian hunter's wigwam. Now, however, 
even before he skinned the bear, as the result 
of that visit, he prayed to that Good Spirit, 
the giver of all his blessings, and was grateful 
for his deliverance. Would that he had con- 
tinued trying to pray, even if he had received 
as yet but little instruction in the right way ! 

He was glad to get the meat and skin oi 
the bear and also the two little cubs, which he 
easily captured alive. Bending down some 
small trees, he tied the greater portion of the 
meat in the tops and then let them swing up 
again, as he could not carry much back with 
him in addition to the skin and the two frisky 
little bears. This plan of caching supplies in 
the tops of small trees, as the Indians call it, 
is almost the only way that things can be 
safely left in the woods where so many wild 
animals are prowling about. If the meat were 
put up in the branches of a large tree, the 
wolverines or wild cats would soon get on the 
scent of it, and being able to climb the trees, 



V i 



'■Jk. 



Oowikapun's Vision. 35 

wouldquickly make short work of it. If buried 
in the ground, these animals, or perhaps the 
gray wolves, would soon get it ; but bury it in 
the tops of the small trees which the animals 
cannot climb, and which they have not wit 
enough to cut down with their teeth, the^a:^^^ 
is safe until the owner comes for it. 

Thus Oowikapun hunted until the season 
was almost ended ; and then making a long 
light sled, he packed on it his furs and camp- 
ing outfit, and the two little bears, which had 
become quite tame, and started out on his 
return journey to his far-away northern home. 
Loaded as he was, he saw it would take him 
several days to make the journt-y, and so he 
resolved to go a little out of his way and visit 
a village of Indians, at the meeting place of 
three rivers, and spend a little time with them, 
as they were of the same tribe as his own 
people, and some of them were distant relatives. 
Unfortunately for him they were in the midst of 
one of their superstitious dances. The dances 
and sacrifices of dogs were a kind of propitiatory 
offering to the Muche-Manito, the devil, to 
put him in good humor, so that he would not 



■■ 



36 



OOWIKAPUN. 






I 



interfere with them and prevent their having 
great success in the coming spring hunt. Of 
course Oowikapun was invited to join in the 
dance, but much to their surprise he at first 
refused. This they could not understand, as 
in previous visits he had been eager to spring 
into the magic circle and display his agility 
and powers of endurance. When questioned 
as to his reasons for declining, he told them of 
his visit to the camp of Memotas and what he 
had heard and witnessed. They gathered 
around him and, Ir.dianlike, patiently listened 
in silence until he had told them his story. 
Unfortunately it was not only received with 
incredulity, but with scorn. The men were 
astounded, and indignantly exclaimed : " So 
he lets his wife eat with him, does he ? and 
cuts the wood himself, and carries the water 
and prays to the Kissa-Manito to bless his 
enemies, instead of trying to poison or shoot 
them ! That is the white man's religion, is it? 
which that Memotas has accepted. Well, let 
him keep it. It is not what we want. As our 
fathers lived and died so will we. Don't be a 
fcol, Oowikapun. You will be wanting one of "^^ 



I I 



Oowikapun's Vision. 



37 



our daughters one of these days to be your 
wife ; then if you treat her like Memotas treats 
his, she will be coming back and telling our 
women all about it, and there will be a pretty 
fuss. O no ; this will never do. You have 
had bad medicine thrown into your eyes, and 
you do not see straight." 

Thus they answered him ; and day after 
day they bantered him, until at length the 
poor fellow — anxious to follow the entreaties 
of Memotas, but as yet unconscious of the 
divine power which he might have had if only 
he had asked for it, and so lacking the strength 
to resist the entreaties of his heM-then friends, 
especially when he heard from lying conjurers 
that even the black-eyed maidens were talking 
about his strange unwillingness to join in the 
religious ceremonies for success in the hunt — 
yielded to the tempter's power, and sprang 
into the circle, and with wild abandon engaged 
in the dance. Madly and recklessly he danced 
to the monotonous drummings of the wicked 
old conjurers and medicine men, who had been 
fea.ful that they were about to lose their grp 
upon him. A wild frenzy seemed to have 



li 



''■'i 






38 



OOWIKAPUN. 



li 



entered into him, and so he danced on and on 
until even his hardened, stalwart frame could 
stand it no longer, and suddenly he fell upon * 
the ground in a state of unconsciousness, and 
had to be carried away to a little wigwam, 
where on a bed of spruce branches he was left 
to recover consciousness when he might. 

Such occurrences among the Indians in their 
wild state when celebrating some of their re- 
ligious ceremonies, such as this devil worship 
or their sun or ghost dances, were not at all 
uncommon. Wrought up to a state of frenzy, 
some of these devotees ceased not their wild 
dancings day or night, sometimes for three 
days continuously ; and then when utterly ex- 
hausted fell into a deathly swoon, which often 
continued for many hours. In this sad plight 
was poor Oowi?capun. 

For hours he remained more like a corpse 
than a living being, in a state of absolute un- 
consciousness, and without an apparent move- 
ment of either muscle or limb. After a time 
the mind began to act, and strange and dis- 
torted dreams and visions flitted through his 
disordered mind and troubled him. At first 



^-f 



''. { 



> I 



m 



Oowikapun's Vision. 



39 



all was confusion and discord. Then there 
came to him something more like a vision 
than a dream, and so vividly was it impressed 
upon him that it was never forgotten. 

Here it is as told me years after. Oowika- 
pun dreamed that he was one of a large com- 
pany of his people who were on a long 
journey, which all had to take. It led them 
over high mountains and trackless plains, 
along swift rivers and across stormy lakes, 
through great forests, where fierce wild beasts 
were ever ready to spring upon them, and 
where quaking bogs were in the way to swallow 
up those who were for a moment off their 
guard. The company was constantly diminish- 
ing as they journeyed on, for the dangers were 
so many that death in various forms was con- 
stantly cutting them off. The survivors, full 
;i -,adness, and hurried on by some irresistible 
uipvdse, could not stop long in the way. All 
they could do was to give those who had 
fallen a hasty burial and then join in the 
onward march. 

Darker and darker beccime the sky, and 
worse and worse seemed the way ; still they 



T^ 



<-:.• 






I 



! 



M 



OOWIKAPUN. 



were impelled on and on. They had to cross 
the wide, stormy lakes, and in every one of 
them some of the party were lost. In every 
rough portage some fell fainting by the way, 
and sank down to rise no more. The crouch- 
ing panther and the fierce wolves in the dense 
forests were ever on S** alert, and many a man 
and woman, and even s^ of the little children, 
fell victims to these savage beasts. A feeling of 
sadness and despair seemed to take possession 
of all. Vainly they called upon the conjurers 
and medicinemen to get help from their Mani- 
tos to make the ways easier and their sorrows 
less, and to find out for them why they were 
traveling on this trail, and the place to which 
it led. 

Very unsatisfactory were the answers which 
they received. Tlvey had no information to 
give about the trail ; yet some said that they 
had heard from their forefathers that there was 
a place called the happy hunting grounds be- 
yond the high mountains t but the way was 
long and dark, and they had no guide to lead 
them in the gloom, none to tell them how 
they could find the passes in the mountains. 



f' 



Oowikapun's Vision. 



41 



While thus almost broken-hearted in the way, 
the thought came d Oowikapun in his dream 
or vision that surely there must be a better 
trail than this rough one, wherein so many of 
the people were perishing so sadly. With this 
thought in his mind he resolved, if possible, to 
break away from the company, and try to find 
a safer path. If he failed in his efforts and 
perished miserably in his search, why, what 
did it matter? They were dying off very 
rapidly where they were, and things could not 
be worse. 

Then if he succeeded in finding a better 
road, where the skies were bright, and the 
storms came not, and the portages were short 
and easily passed, and the breezes on the lakes 
only wafted them on their way, and no savage 
beasts lurked along the trail, and he could find 
some one who had been over the way, or could 
tell him that it ended well, and if he could 
succeed in getting his people in this better 
path, how rejoiced he and they would be ! 

Then it seemed in his dream that he made 
the effort to break away ; but he told no one 
of what was in his heart or of his resolves, for 



u 



t' 



'"{'.■"'' ft 



4a 



OOWIKAPUN. 



:• \ 



he was afraid of being ridiculed by his com. 
rades if he should try and then fail in his 
efforts. He found it very hard at first to get 
out from the old trail ; but he persevered and 
succeeded, although but slowly at first. He 
found the way become smoother, and in some 
way which he could not understand help was 
being given him several times just when he 
needed it. Cheering words and sweet songs 
at times fell upon his ears, and made him for- 
get that he was alone and footsore in this try- 
ing work ; and once when his way led him 
over a great lake, and he was in a little boat 
in which it seemed impossible for him to 
reach the farther shore, and he was about to 
give up in despair, a strong, firm hand took 
the little helm, and soon he was safe at his 
landing place. 

From this place the traveling was very much 
easier, and he journeyed on, zver looking for 
the safer trail for his people. Seeing before 
him a pleasant hill, he hurried to its summit, 
and there before him in the valley, stretching 
away in the distance on and on until lost in a 
golden cloud of brightness, like the sunlight 



V( 



<' ■'- 



Oowikapun's Vision. 



43 



on the waters, he saw a broad trail, smooth 
and beautiful, with a great company of happy 
people walking in it. As he observed more 
carefully, he saw that some were Indians, some 
white people, and some of other colors ; but 
all seemed so happy, bright, and joyous, that 
Oowikapun wept as he thought of the unhappy 
condition of his own people in the other trail. 

Wearied by his long journey, and charmed 
by the sight before him, he tarried there for 
hours, and then he thought he fell asleep ; and 
while in this condition a man with a covered 
face came to him and gently aroused him, and 
seeing that he had been weeping, asked in 
gentle, sympathetic tones why he should weep 
while before him there was so much joy anc* 
gladness. 

Touched by the kindly manner of the stran- 
ger, Oowikapun forgot his usual reserve, and 
told him all that was in his heart. While he 
talked the visitor listened in silence until he 
had told his sad story, and then heaving a 
sigh, that seemed full of sorrow, he said to 
Oowikapun : " Has not the Great Spirit pitied 
you and tried to help you ? Did he not send 



^■^, 



i 

i •* 
■J ■'? 



44 



OOWIKAPUN. 



you to the wigwam of one of his followers to 
give you some directions about getting in the 
better way ? Is he not waiting and watching 
to see how you are using what knowledge you 
have secured ? Why have you so soon forgot- 
ten your first lesson ? " Then he quickly 
moved to go, and as he turned away the cover- 
ing for an instant dropped from his face, and 
Oowikapun had a glimpse of it, and it vividly 
reminded him of Memotas. 




A Strange Benefactor. 



45 



iiaitaMsiiaMaMfl 1 



CHAPTER IV. 
A Strange Bene&otor. 

flTH a start Oowikapun awoke from his 

\\7 I long sleep, confused and bewildered. 
I So vivid had been his dream that 

■■laiiaiiaiiaiii 

it was some time before he could 
grasp his surroundings and come back to life's 
realities. 

It was a night of intense darkness. Fierce, 
cold winds came shrieking out of the dense 
forest, and shook the little bark tent into 
which he had been thrown, and whistled 
through its many chinks, and made him 
shiver. No cheerful fire burned in the center, 
and there was not a person in the wigwam to 
offer aid. Every bone and muscle in his body 
seemed to ache, and his mind was so dis- 
tracted and his nerves unstrung that he was 
thoroughly miserable. He was nearly destitute 
of clothing, for he had been carried out from 
the circle just as he had danced and fallen, 
and now here he was nearly naked and shiver- 



m 



46 



OOWIKAPUN. 



ing with the cold. Vainly he felt about for his 
fire bag, in which he carried his flint and 
steel, that he might strike a light ; but in the 
inky darkness nothing could be found. Only 
a visitor in the village, he felt, with Indian re- 
serve, that it would be a great breach of de- 
corum and a sign of great weakness if he were 
to call out for help, and so, in spite of his 
aches and shiverings, he resolved that he 
would, at least be a " brave," and patiently en- 
dure until the morning brought him light and 
friends. 

Very long indeed to Oowikapun seemed 
that cold, dark night. The reaction had come, 
and physically and mentally he was to be 
pitied. His dance had carried him very near 
to the verge of the dance of death. And then 
owing to his vivid dream, although as yet he 
could not interpret much of it, there was the 
vague idea, as a haunting fear, that it had 
come to chide him for his cowardice in falling 
back and taking part in the devil dance, after 
having heard of the other way. Thus filled 
with sorrow there he sat on his rude bed of 
boughs, hour after hour, with his locked hands 



'^.•s 



A Strange Benefactor. 



47 



clasping his knees, and his head bowed down 
upon his breast. 

The few sounds which broke the stillness of 
those hours or interrupted the sighing of the 
winds were not pleasant. A great owl en- 
sconced in a tree not far away began and 
maintained for a long time its monotonous 
** hoot-a-hoot a-hoo," while away in the distant 
forest gloom, rising at times shrill and distinct 
above the fitful wind, he heard the wail of the 
catamount or panther, the saddest and most 
mournful sound that ever broke the solitude 
of forest gloom. A sound at times so like the 
shrieking wail of a child in mortal agony, 
that heard close at hand it has caused the 
face of many a brave wife of the backwoods 
settler, even when all her loved ones were safe 
with her within the strong walls of the log 
house, to blanch with terror and to cry out 
with fear. Its despairing wail seemed to poor 
Oowikapun as the echo of the feeling of his 
saddened heart. 

But the longest night has an end, and to 
the patient watchers day dawn comes again. 
As the first rays of light began to enter 



\. 






1- 



48 



OOWIKAPUN. 



i, 



through the cracks and crevices of the wig- 
wam Oowikapun rejoiced greatly, and then 
fell into a heavy sleep. 

When he awoke the camp fire was burning 
brightly on the ground before him, a warm 
blanket was over his shoulders, and food 
warm and inviting was ready for him near the 
fire. 

It was very evident that some one had had 
compassion on him. Oowikapun rubbed his 
eyes, rose up and shook himself, and won- 
dered whether this was a vision or a reality. 
His keen appetite, sharpened by long fasting, 
came to his help and naturally aided in the 
settling of the question ; so he vigorously at- 
tacked the food, and, eating, was refreshed 
and comforted. 

Just as he was finishing his meal, the deer- 
skin door of his lodge was partially but noise- 
lessly pulled aside, and his outer garments 
and Indian finery, including his prized fire 
bag, all of which he had thrown ofif at the be- 
ginning of the dance, were quickly placed 
inside the door. The thing was done so 
speedily and quietly that it nearly escaped his 




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A Sthange Benefactor. ft 

notice, sharp and quiclc as he was; but a 
draught of air coming in through the partly 
opened door caused him to turn and look, but 
he was only in time to see a hand and shapely 
arm, on which was a beautifully wrought 
bracelet of Indian beadwork, draw close again 
the curtainlike door. 

It would have been considered a great 
breach of decorum if he had manifested any 
curiosity or had arisen to see who the person 
was to whom, he was indebted for this kind- 
ness. So curbing all curiosity he finished his 
breakfast and put on his apparel, and strange 
to say, seemed anxious to be as presentable 
as possible. Then going out, he was soon 
greeted by his friends, who all began urging 
him to accept of their liospitalities and go and 
eat with them. When Oowikapun stated that 
he had eaten »^lready a hearty meal, they were 
all astonished and amazed, and doubly so, 
when he told them of what had been done for 
him in the wigwam while he slept. Their 
heartless custom had ever been to leave the 
unconscious dancer alone and uncared for 
until he emerged from the tent, and then offer 



'/^. 



V. 



52 



OOWIKAPUN. 



him their hospitalities; but here had been a 
strange innovation, and the question was im- 
mediately raised, Who has done this ? But in 
spite of many inquiries, everybody seenied to 
be in ignorance. 

Oowikapun's curiosity was now aroused, and 
he became exceedingly desirous of finding out 
who his benefactor was and expressing his 
gratitude. Among other plans that were sug- 
gested to his mind was to endeavor to find out 
who had taken charge of his clothing and fire 
bag while he was dancing in the tent. But 
even here he failed to get any clew. Every- 
body seemed to have become so absorbed in 
the ceremonies of the dance, or in watching 
the endurance of the dancers, that all minor 
things were forgotten. 

When the conjurers and medicine men came 
to congratulate Oowikapun on his efforts, and 
called his dances " good medicine," a sudden 
feeling of abhorrence and repulsion came into 
his heart toward these men ; and as quickly as 
he dared he turned from them in disgust, and 
resolved to get out of the village and away 
from their influence as soon as possible. 



A Strange Benefactor. 



53 



.■■,: 1 



Hb few preparations were soon completed, 
and saying, " What cheer?" the Indian fare- 
well, to his relatives, he securely fastened his 
little bears with his furs upon his sled, and 
throwing the strap over his shoulder, re- 
sumed the trail that led to his still distant 
home. Soon he was out of the village and 
in the forest. Snares and traps abounded on 
each side of the path, for the game was 
plentiful. Especially were the rabbits and 
white partridges, the beautiful ptarmigan, 
very abundant that winter and spring, and 
hundreds were caught in snares by the boys 
and women and girls ; and so f^r a time he 
had the well-beaten trail ovei hich these 
people traveled as they daily visited ♦^heir 
snares. 

On pushed Oowikapun until nearly every 
snowshoe track of these hunters had disap- 
peared, and but few were seen, and the sense 
of being alone again in the forest, or nearly 
so, returned to him with depressing results. 
Rapidly and vividly did there pass through 
his memory the events of the last few days 
spent in the village just left behind ; and es- 



i ' 



V 



m- 



OOWIKAPUN. 



pecially did his singular dream come up before 
him, and a feeling of remorse filled his heart 
that he had yielded to the importunities of 
his pagan friends and had been persuaded to 
take any part in the dance. Then his thoughts 
went farther back, and he was with Memotas 
again, and the memory of their last walk came 
up so distinctly, and especially the loving 
words about the true way ; and then as he re- 
called the spot where with him he had bowed 
in prayer, and then put up his hand on his 
brow where the good man's kiss had been im- 
printed, the very spot seemed to burn, and 
Oowikapun could have wept, only he was in- 
dignant at his cowardice. 

Thus moodily he strode along on the trail, 
now nearly destitute of all evidences of having 
been used by the hunters, when he was 
startled and amazed by an unexpected sound 
';hat seemed strangely out of place It was a 
woman's voice he heard ; and although the 
tones were low and plaintive, yet he could 
easily make out the words of the song, for he 
had heard them over and over again in the 
wigwam of Memotas. They were : 



'; . \ 



I 



A Strange Benefactor. 

" Jesus net it a ye-moo-win, 
Is pe-mek ka ke it oo-tate, 
We*ya pi-ko ne mah-me-sin, 
Nesta a-we itoo ta-yan." 



To our readers who may not be posted in 
the Cree language of the far North, we give 
the English translation of the verse : 

"Jesus, my all, to heaven is gone. 
He whom I fix my hopes upon ; 
His track I see, and I'll pursue 
The narrow way, till him I view." 

This hymn was the first translated into 
Cree. It is a general favorite, and is frequently 
heard not only in the public religious services 
and at the family devotions, but often the for- 
est's stillness is broken by its hopeful, cheering 
notes, as at his lonely toil the Christian hunter 
strides along. Mr. Evans printed his first copies 
of it in syllabic characters on birch bark. 

But how did it get here? and who was the 
sweet singer? These were questions now in 
the mind of Oowikapun as he stood still, uncer- 
tain what to do, but strangely thrilled by the 
song, which had so quickly carried him back 
to the tent of the loving Christian Memotas. 



1 



s« 



OOWIKAPUN. 



Iiiaiiauaiiatkaii 



IN 



■iiBiisiiaiiBiiaiifl 



CHAPTER V. 
The Maiden's Story. 

■OT long had Oowikapun to wait, for 
soon emerged from among the young 
balsam trees a fair Indian maiden 
with a number of snow-white ptar- 
migan and a few rabbits, which had rewarded 
her skill and enterprise as a successful hun- 
tress in coming so far from the village to set 
her snares. She was taller than most Indian 
maidens, and her eyes were bright and fearless. 
She stepped into the trail and turned her face 
homeward, but gave a sudden start, as, lifting 
up her eyes, she found herself almost face to 
face with Oowikapun. Quickly regaining her 
composure, she threw her game over her back, 
in the Indian woman's style of carrying loads, 
and with the natural Indian womanly modesty 
seemed anxious to at once go on. In all prob- 
ability not a word would have passed between 
them. As it happened, however, just at the 
moment when the maiden swung her load of 






.': I 



/y^ 




^-A/OT" 



She found herself almost face to face with Oowikapun. 



The Maiden's Story. 



59 



game over her back, the shawl she was wearing 
fell back for an instant from her arm, and on it 
Oowikapun's quick eye detected the beautiful 
bracelet that he had seen that morning on the 
arm that had closed the door of his little lodge. 

This discovery filled him with curiosity, and 
he resolved to find out who she was, and why 
she had shown him, a stranger, so much kind- 
ness. But the difficulty was how to begin. 
His Indian training told him it would be 
a breach of decorum to speak to her; but 
so great was his anxiety to find the solution of 
what was a mystery even to the villagers them- 
selves, that he felt he must not let the oppor- 
tunity pass by. Man's bluntness is his own 
poor substitute for woman's superior tact, and 
so as she was about to pass he said : " Have I 
not seen that beautiful bracelet before ? " 

He tried to speak kindly, but he was excited 
and fearful that she would be gone, and so his 
voice sounded harsh and stern, and it startled 
her, and her face flushed a little ; yet she 
quickly regained her composure, and then 
quietly said : " It was made years ago, so you 
have seen it before." 



B«i 



■Hi 



60 



OOWIKAPUN. 



. 1 



" Was it not on the arm of the friend who 
made the fire and prepared the food and 
brought the clothing for the poor, foolish 
stranger?" he asked. 

She raised her piercing black eyes to his, as 
though she would look into his soul, and said, 
without hesitancy : " Yes, it was ; and Oowika- 
pun was indeed foolish, if not worse." 

Startled and confounded at this reply, given 
in such decided tones by this maiden, Oowika- 
pun, in spite of all his efforts to appear un- 
moved, felt abashed before her, and his eyes 
fell under her searching gaze. 

Recovering himself as well as he could, he 
said : " Will the fair maiden please tell me 
what she means ? " 

"Yes," she answered. " What she means is 
that she is very much surprised that a man 
who for days has been a guest in the wigwam 
of Memotas and Meyooachimoowin, and who 
has heard their songs and prayers to the Good 
Spirit, should again be found in the circle of 
the devil dance." - ' - x 

' " How do you know I was with Memotas ? " 
he replied. ^ ,; 






The Maiden's Story. 



6i 



" From your own lips," she answered. "I 
was with the maidens, with only a deerskin 
partition diWding us from the place where you 
told the men of your battle with the wolf, and 
of Memotas's love and words about the book 
of heaven and the Good Spirit to you. And 
yet," she added, and there was a tinge of sor- 
row in her voice, " after having heard all that, 
you went to the old bad way again." 

Stung by her words so full of reproof, he 
retorted with some bitterness : " And you and 
the other maidens goaded me on to the dance." 

With flashing eyes she drew herself up 
proudly, and said : " Never ! I would have 
died first. It was a lie of the conjurers, if they 
said anything of the kind." 

A feeling of admiration, followed by one of 
almost envy, came over him as he listened to 
the decided words, uttered with such spirit, 
and he heartily wished some of it had been his 
when tempted to join in the dance of sin. 
With the consciousness of weakness and with 
his proud spirit quelled, he said : ** Why are 
you of this mind ? How is it that you know 
so much about the white man's way ? Did I 












\ 



62 



OOWIKAPUN. 



not see you in the wigwam of Kistayimoowin, 
the chief, whose brother is the great medicine 
man of the tribe ? How is it that you, the 
chiefs daughter and the conjurer's niece, should 
have such different thoughts about these 
things?" 

Her answer, which was a little bit of her 
family history, was as follows : > 

" While I am the niece of Koosapatum, the 
conjurer and medicine man, whom I hate, I 
am not the daughter, but the niece of Kis- 
tayimoowin, the chief. My father was another 
brother of theirs. He was a great hunter, and 
years ago, when I was a little child, he left the 
home of his tribe and, taking my mother and 
me, he went far away to Lake Athabasca, 
where he was told there was abundance of game 
and fish. In a great storm they were both 
drowned. I was left a poor orphan child about 
six years of age among the pagan Indians, who 
cared but little for me. They said they had 
enough to do in looking after their own chil- 
dren, so often I was half starved. Fortunately 
for me the great missionary, with his wonder- 
ful canoe of tin, which the people called the 



J 



I. " 



.'-Vl 






. 



i 



The Maiden's Story. 



■I 



* Island of Light/ came along that way on 
one of his journeys. He had those skillful 
canoe men — Henry Budd and Hasselton. 
While stopping among the people and teaching 
them the true way, the missionary heard of 
me and of the danger I was in of perishing, 
and so he took me in the canoe and carried me 
all the way to Norway House. It was long 
ago, but well do I remember how they carried 
me across the rough portages when I got tired 
out, and gave me to eat the best pieces of 
ducks and geese or other game which they 
shot for food. At night they gathered old 
hay from the beavers* meadows, or cut down 
a young balsam tree, and with its branches 
made me a little bed for the night. 

" When we reached Norway House Mission, 
I was adopted into the family of the mission- 
ary. They and Miss Adams, the teacher, were 
very kind to me. I joined the Indian children 
in the school, and went regularly to the little 
church. I well remember Memotas and Big 
Tom and Murtagon and Papanekis and many 
others. I learned some of the hymns, and can 
distinctly remember seeing the missionary and 






■\. 



r 



\ 



64 



OOWIKAPUN. 



It M 



Mr. Steinhav printing the hymns in the char- 
acters on the bark and on paper. It was the 
happiest year of my life. * 

*' O that I had been wise, and tried to 
gather up and fix in my memory all that 
was said to me of the Great Spirit, and his son 
Jesus, and about the good way! But I was a 
happy, thoughtless girl, and more fond of play 
with the little Indian girls and the fun-loving, 
happy boys than of listening to the lessons 
and learning them. 

'■ A year after my Uncle Kistayimoowin 
came down to the fort with his furs, and took 
me away home with him ; and here, so far 
away, I have lived ever since. In his way he 
is not unkind to me, but my Uncle Koosapa- 
tum hates me because I know these things ; 
and as all are in dread of his poisons, even 
Kistayimoowin does not wish me to speak 
about what I heard that year, or sing what I 
remember except when I am far out in the 
forest. Because I do not want to have my 
uncle, the chief, poisoned, I kept quiet some- 
times ; but most of the women have heard all 
I know, and they are longing to hear more. 



1 ■ 

I; 



"*," ■'- 



i 



I 




( 



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The Maiden's Story. 



67 



So our hearts got full of hoping when, as we 
waited on the chief with his dinner a few days 
ago, we heard him talking with some others 
who were eating with him that you had come, 
and had been cured of your wounds by a 
Christian Indian, by the name of Memotas, 
and were going to give a talk about what had 
happened to you, and what you had heard. 
When I heard him mention the name of Me- 
motas, I thought I would have dropped the 
birch roggin of roasted bears' paws which I 
was holding, for I could still remember that 
good man so well. Gladly I gathered some of 
the women together behind the partition to 
listen and learn more of the good way, if we 
could, from you. 

" We drank in every word you said, and 
when they mocked we were very angry at 
them ; but we dare not say a word for fear of 
a beating. While you stood firm and refused 
to join in that wicked dance we rejoiced. 
When you yielded our hearts became sad, 
and we silently got away. I went out into 
the woods and wept. When I returned the 
women had shut themselves up in their tents. 



<>^. 



31 I 



(.. 






68 



OOWIKAPUN. 



and the men were all off to the big dance 
house. I found your clothes and fire bag just 
where you had thrown them off, in danger of 
being dragged away or torn to pieces by the 
foolish young dogs. So, unseen by anybody, I 
gathered them up and put them away. 

" During the days and nights you danced I 
was angry and miserable, and at times could 
not keep from weeping that a man who had 
known Memotas, and for days had been with 
him, and had heard so much about the good 
way, should then go back to the old dark way 
which gives no comfort to anyone. 

"When you fell senseless in the circle, I 
watched where they carried you. I visited the 
tent in the night, and I heard your sad moans, 
and I knew you were unhappy. At daybreak, 
as you had fallen into a deep sleep, I built the 
fire and prepared the food, and carried you 
your clothing ; and if it had not been for the 
breeze which swept through the door, when I 
last opened it, you would never have known 
anything about me." 

Her story greatly interested Oowikapun ; 
and as he listened to her thus talking as he 



- 




r- 



\v 



I 




> '< 



The Maiden's Story. 



69 



had never heard an Indian woman speak 
before, he saw the benefit which had come as 
' the result of a year spent among Christians, 
even though it were only a year in childhood. 
When she finished he said : ** I am glad I have 
met you and heard your story." 

" Why should you be glad ? " she replied. 
** I am sure you must be offended that a wom- 
an should have dared to speak so plainly to 
you." 

" I deserve all that you have said, and more 
too," he added after a pause. 

" In which trail are you in the future going 
to walk ? " she asked. This straight, searching 
question brought vividly before his vision the 
dream, and the two ways which there he saw, 
and he felt that a crisis in his life had come ; 
and he said, after a pause : " I should like to 
walk in the way marked out by the book of 
heaven." 

" And so would I," she replied, with intense 
earnestness ; " but it seems hard to do so, 
placed as I am. You think me brave here 
thus reproving you, but I am a coward in the 
village. I have called it love for my uncle's 



7© 



OOWIKAPUN. 



life that has kept me back from defying 
the conjurers, and telling everybody I want to 
go in the way the Good Spirit has given us; 
but it is cowardice, and I am ashamed of my- 
self, and then I know so little. O, that we had 
a missionary among us with the book of heav- 
en, as they have at Norway House and else- 
where, that we might learn more about the 
way, and be brave and courageous all the 
time!" •^-..,;:- .., .- 

This despairing cry is the voice of millions 
dissatisfied with the devil dances and worship 
of idols. The call is for those who can tell 
them where soul comfort can be found, and a 
sweet assurance brought into their hearts that 
they are in the right way. 

Hardly knowing what answer to make, but 
now interested in the woman as never in one 
before, he asked : " What name does your 
uncle call you?" Wishing to find out her 
name he put it this way, as it is considered 
the height of rudeness to ask a person her 
name. When several persons are together, 
and the name of one is desired by one of the 
company, the plan is always to ask some third 



i 



I 



[ , i. 



The Maiden's Story. 



71 



person for the desired information. "Astu- 
mastao," she replied. And then feeling with 
her keen womanly instincts that the time had 
come when the long interview should end, she 
quickly threw her game, which had been 
dropped on the ground, over her shoulder 
again, and gliding by him, soon disappeared in 
the forest trail. - 



>■■ 



y\ 



/> 




OOWIKAPUN. 



>■) 



(', 



I 



CHAPTER VI. .^ . 

Hunting Wild G«ese. 

I """jO Oowikapun this interview was of 

I I I gJ'eat value, and while he could not 
I = but feel a certain amount of humili- 

iiiaiiaiiaiiaitatia 

ation at the cowardice he had been 
forced to admit, and felt also that it was a 
new experience to be thus talked to by a 
woman, yet his conscience told him that she 
was right and he deserved the reproofs she 
had given. So with something more to think 
about, he resumed his onward journey, and 
ere he stopped that night and made his little 
camp he was many miles nearer his home. 

As he sat there by his cheery fire, while all 
around him stretched the great wild forest, he 
tried to think over some of the new and 
strange adventures through which he had 
passed. With startling vividness they came 
before him, and above all the brave words of 
the maiden Astumastao seemed to ring in his 
ears. Then the consciousness that he who 

\ f 



a 



^= 






Hunting Wild Geese. 



73 



had been trying to make himself and others 
believe that he was so brave was really so 
cowardly took hold of him, and so depressed 
him that he could only sit with bowed head 
and burdened heart, and say within himself 
that he was very weak and foolish. 

The stars shone out in that brilliant north- 
ern sky, and the aurora danced and blazed 
and scintillated, meteors flashed across the 
heavens with wondrous brightness, but Oowi- 
kapun saw them not. The problem of life 
here and hereafter had come to him as never 
before. He found out that he had a soul, and 
that there was a God to fear and love, who 
cared for men and women, and that there was 
reward for right doing and punishment for 
sin. So with the little light he had, he pon- 
dered and thought, and the more he did the 
worse he got ; for he had not yet found the 
Way of simple faith and trust, and he became 
so saddened and terrified that there was but 
little sleep that night for him. As there he 
sat longing for help, he remembered the 
words of Astumastao : ** O, that we had a mis- 
sionary among us, with the book of heaven, 



\i. 



74 



OOWIKAPUN. 



that we might learn more about the way, and 
be brave and courageous all the time !" 

In this frame of mind he watched and 
waited until the first blush of morn; then 
after a hasty meal prepared on his camp fire, 
he started off, and in due time reached his 
home in the distant village in the wilderness, 
and in the depressing mood in which we here 
first met him he lived for many a day. 

The change in him was noticed by all, and 
many conjectured as to the cause, but Oowi- 
kapun unburdened not his heart, Ic. he knew 
there was none among his people who could 
understand, and with bitter memories of his 
cowardice, he thought in his blindness that 
the better way to escape ridicule and even 
persecution would be to keep all he had 
learned about the Good Spirit and the book 
of heaven locked up in his heart. 

Oowikapun was one of the best hunters in 
his village, and as his father was dead and he 
was the oldest son, and now about twenty-five 
years of age, he was looked up to as the head of 
the wigwam. In his Indian way he was neither 
unkind to his mother nor to the younger 



Hunting Wild Geese. 



75 



members of the family. To his little brothers 
he gave the two young bears, and they soon 
taught them a number of tricks. They quickly 
learned the use of their fore legs, and it was 
very amusing to see them wrestling with and 
throwing the young Indian dogs, with whom 
they soon became great friends. 

Oowikapun, to divert attention from him- 
self, and to keep from being questioned about 
the change in his conduct, which was so evi- 
dent to all, devoted himself with unflagging en- 
ergy to the chase. Spring having now opened, 
the wild geese came in great flocks from their 
southern homes to those northern lands, look- 
ing for the rich feeding grounds and safe 
places where they could hatch their young. 
These times when the geese are flying over 
are as a general thing profitable to the hunt- 
ers, I have known an old Indian, with only 
two old flintlock guns, kill seventy-five large 
gray geese in one day. That was however an 
exceptional case. The hunters considered 
themselves fortunate if each night they re- 
turned with from seven to twelve of these 
birds. 



s 



I 



76 



OOWIKAPUN. 



Oowikapun, having selected a spot at the 
edge of a great marsh from which the snow 
had melted, and where the goose grass was 
abundant^ and the flocks were flying over in 
great numbers, hastily prepared what the 
hunters call their nest. This is made out of 
marsh hay and branches of trees, and is 
really what its name implies, a nest so large 
that at least a couple of men can hide them- 
selves in it. When ready to begin goose 
hunting they put on a white coat and a cap 
of similar color ; for these observant Indians 
have learned that if they are dressed in white 
they can call the geese much nearer to them 
than if their garments are of any other hue. 
Another requisite for a successful hunt is to 
have a number of decoy geese carved out of 
wood, and placed in the grass near the nest, 
as though busily engaged in eating. 

Oowikapun's first day at the hunt was 
fortunately a very good one. The sun was 
shining brightly, and aided by a southern 
breeze many flocks of geese came in sight in 
their usual way of flying, either in straight 
lines or in triangles. Oowikapun was gifted 



Hunting Wild Geese. 



If 



with the ability to imitate their call, and he 
succeeded in bringing so many of them in 
range of his gun that ere the day ended he 
had bagged almost a score. 

In after years when I visited that land it 
used to interest me much, and added a 
pleasurable excitement to my trip, to don a 
white garment over my winter clothing, for 
the weather was still cold, and join one of 
these clever hunters in his little nest and take 
my chance at a shot at these noble birds. I 
felt quite proud of my powers when I brought 
down my first gray goose, even if I did only 
break a wing with my ball. 

Quickly unloosing Cuffy, one of my favorite 
Newfoundland dogs, I sent her after the bird, 
which had lit down on a great ice field about 
five hundred yards away. But although dis- 
abled, the bird could still fight, and so when 
my spirited dog tried to close in upon her and 
seize her by the neck, the brave goose gave 
her such a blow over the head with the unin- 
jured wing that it turned her completely over 
and made her howl with pain and vexation. 
Witnessing the discomfiture of my dog, I 



w 



• . ^ 



78 



OOWIKAPUN. 



could easily understand what I had been fre- 
quently told by t^.? Indians, of foxes having 
been killed by the old geese when trying to 
capture young goslings from the flocks. 

In these annual goose hunts all the Indians 
who can handle a gun take part. The news of 
the arrival of the first goose fills a whole vil- 
lage with excitement, and nothing can keep 
the people from rushing off to the different 
points, which they each claim year after year, 
where they hastily build their nests and set 
their decoys. 

I well remember how quickly I was deserted 
by a whole com.pany of Salteaux Indians one 
spring, on then hearing the long-expected call 
of a solitary goose that came flying along on 
the south wind. I had succeeded, after a good 
deal of persuasion, in getting them to work 
with me in cutting down trees and preparing 
the soil for scy,,] sowing, when in the midst of 
our toil, at about ten o'clock in the forenoon, 
the distant "aunk! aunk! aunk!" of an old 
gray goose was heard, the outskirmisher of the 
oncoming crowds. Such was the effect of that 
sound upon my good hunters, but poor fiirm- 



Hunting Wild Geese. 



79 



ers, that the axes and hoes were hastily 
dropped, and with a rush they were all off to 
their wigwams for their guns and ammunition, 
and I did not see them again for a month. 

Success in the goose hunt seems to elate the 
Indian more than in .M'vi:hing else. Why, I 
could never find out. it may be because it is 
the first spring hunting after the long> dreary 
winter, and there is the natural gladness that 
the pleasant springtime has come again. What- 
ever it may be, I noticed for years more noisy 
mirth and earnest congratulations on success 
in the goose hunt than in anything else. 

Loaded down with his game, Oowikapiin 
returned to his wigwam, and instead of cheerily 
responding to the congratulations of the in- 
mates on account cf his success, he threw him- 
self down on his bed, silent and gloomy, and 
refused the proffered meal, and even the 
lighted pipe which his mother brought him. 

They were all surprised at his conduct, 
which was so contrary to his old ways. He 
had never been known to act like this before. 
Just the reverse. He had come to be con- 
sidered the brightest young man in the vilkge; 



OOWIKAPUN. 



he had more than once been called the young 
hunter of the cheery voice and the laughing 
eyes. Then in his serious hours, in times when 
the affairs of the tribe were being discussed at 
the council fires, so good was his judgment, 
and wise and thoughtful beyond his years were 
his words considered, that even the old men, 
who seldom did anything but sneer at the 
words of the young men, gave respectful at- 
tention to what fell from the lips of Oowika- 
pun. Well was it remembered how, only last 
year, at the great council fire of the whole 
tribe, when the runners brought the news of 
the aggressions of the whites on some of the 
southern tribes with whom they had been, in 
the years past, on friendly alliance, and the old 
men spake with bitterness and talked of the 
old glories of the red men, ere the paleface 
came with his firearms, and what was worse 
with his fire water, and hunted down and 
poisoned many of their forefathers, and drove 
back the rest of them toward the setting sun 
or northward to the regions of the bitter cold 
and frost, and how much better it would have 
been, they said, if their forefathers had listened 



r 



Hunting Wild Geese. 



81 



to the fiery eloquence and burning words of 
Tecumseh and his brother tlie prophet, and 
joined in a great Indian confederacy, when 
they were numerous and strong, to drive the 
white man back into the sea. Then it was, 
when eyes flashed and the Indians were wild 
enough with excitement to cause great trouble, 
that Oowikapun arose and spoke kindly words, 
and wise beyond his years. 

In his address he urged that the time for 
successful war was passed, that Tecumseh 
himself fell before the power of the paleface, 
that his wampum and magic pipe had disap- 
peared, and his tomahawk had been buried in 
a peace ceremony between his survivors and 
the paleface ; and bitter as might be some of 
the memories of the past, yet to all it must be 
clear that as many of the white men were 
really their friends, it was for their interest and 
happiness to act patiently and honorably to- 
ward them, and strive to I*- : is the Great 
Spirit would have them, as lovmg brothers. 

Thus talked Oowikapun last year. Why is 
it, they said, that he who gave such promise of 
being a great orator, as well as a successful 



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OOWIKAPUN. 



11 



I 



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hunter, should act so strangely now ? Some 
said he was losing his reason and becoming 
crazy. The young folks said he was in love 
with some bright-eyed maiden, whom they 
knew not, but many of the dark-eyed maidens 
hoped she was the fortunate one. And so 
they wondered why he did not let it be known. 
As he still delayed, they said, it is because he 
has had so many to support • that he is poor, 
and is fearful that what he has to offer in pay- 
ment for his bride might not be considered 
sufficient, and he would be humiliated to be 
refused. 

Even some of the older women, not born in 
beauty's hand basket, when they could get 
away from their exacting husbands, would sit 
down together under the bank where the canoes 
were drawn up, and in imitation of the men 
around the council fires, would gravely ex- 
change opinions, and perhaps, like white folks, 
would gossip a little in reference to conduct so 
extraordinary. 







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MOOKOOMIS AND HIS LEGENDS. 



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CHAPTER VII. 
Mookoomis and his Legends. 



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jHE old conjurers and medicine men 
r I who were at length consulted said, 
after long drumming and powwow- 
ing and the consuming of much tea 
and tobacco, at the expense of his relatives, 
that the spirits of the forests and rivers were 
calling to him to fast and suffer, and prepare to 
become a great medicine man ; that nature 
would then reveal her secrets and give him 
power and influence over the people and 
make him " good medicine," if he obeyed her 
voice. 

Oowikapun heard of the surmisings and 
mutterings of the people about him, and at 
first was very much annoyed. Then no peace 
coming to him, for he was afraid to pray to 
the Good Spirit since he had taken part in the 
devil dance, he decided to consult one of the 
old men of the village, who had a reputation 
among the people for wisdom and also as 



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;- \ 



86 



OOWIKAPUN. 



being well posted in old Indian traditions and 
legends. The young man was cordially 
welcomed to the wigwam of the old man, but 
Oowikapun had not been there very long in 
conversation with him before he found out 
that he was a great hater of the whites. On 
Oowikapun expressing some surprise at this, 
and asking his reason for having such bitter- 
ness in his breast toward the palefaces, the 
old man told him the following story. 

One winter many years ago when he was a 
great hunter, he had been very successful in 
the chase and had caught quite a number of 
black and silver foxes, as well as many otters 
and other valuable fur-bearing animals. Think- 
ing he could do better in selling his furs by go- 
ing down the rivers and across many portages 
far away to a place where he had heard that 
white men had come, who wished to trade 
with the Indians, and who had sent word that 
they would give a good price for rich furs, he 
set off for that place. He took his v/ife along 
with him to help him paddle his canoe and to 
carry the loads across the portages, which 
were very many. They reached the place 



r 



MOOKOOMIS AND HIS LEGENDS. 



87 



i 



after many days' journey; and the white men 
when they saw their bales of rich furs seemed 
very friendly, and said as they had come so 
far they must be very weary; and so they 
gave him their fire water to drink, and told 
him that it would make him >rget that his 
hands were sore with long paddling his canoe, 
and that his feet were weary with the hard 
walking in the portages. So because they 
professed to be his friends he drank their fire 
water, and found out that they were his 
enemies. They gave him more and more, 
telling him it was good ; and so he foolishly 
drank and drank until he lost his senses, and 
was in a drunken stupor for days. 

When he came to himself he found he was 
out in a cold shed and very miserable. His 
head ached and he was very sore. His coat 
was gone, and so were his beautifully beaded 
leggings and moccasins. His gun was gone, 
and so were his bales of rich and valuable furs. 
His wife was also gone, and there he was, half 
naked and alone. 

Alarmed, he cried out for his things, and 
asked how it was that he was in such a sad plight. 



it 



OOWIKAPUN. 



Hearing him thus calling out, some of those 
white men who had pretended to be his 
friends came to him and said, " Begone, you 
poor Indian fool!" "Where are my furs?" 
he asked. With a laugh they said, ** We have 
taken them for the whisky you drank." " Give 
me my furs," he cried, " or pay me for them." 
" But," added the old man, " they were 
stronger than I, and had taken away, not only 
my gun, but my ax and knife, so I was help- 
less before them. 

'•'Where is my wife?' I then asked. But 
they only laughed at my question, and it was 
weeks before I heard that they had insulted 
her, and would have foully treated her but 
that she had pulled out her knife and threat- 
ened to kill the first man that touched her. 
While keeping them away wath her knife she 
moved around until she got near an open win- 
dow, when she suddenly sprang out and fled 
like a frightened deer to the forest. After 
long weeks of hardship she reached the far-oflf 
home. She had had a sad time of it and many 
strange adventures. Footsore and nearly worn 
out she had been at times, but she bravely 






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MOOKOOMIS AND HIS LEGENDS. Ij^ 

persevered. Her food had been roots and an 
occasional rabbit or partridge which she 
snared. Several times she had been chased 
by wild animals. Once for several days the 
savage wolves madly howled around the foot 
of a tree into which she had managed to climb 
for safety from their fierce attacks. Fortu- 
nately for her a great moose deer dashed along 
not far away, and the wolves which had been 
keeping watch upon her rushed off on its trail. 
Hurrying down, she, although half starved, 
quickly sped on her way. Thus had she 
traveled all alone, her life often in jeopardy 
from savage beasts ; but she feared them less 
than she did the rude white men from whom 
she had just fled. The clothing she had on 
when she rea led home was principally of 
rabbit skins taken from the rabbits she had 
captured, and made to supply that in which 
she had started, but which had been almost 
torn in rags by the hardships of the way." 

The man when kicked out of the place of 
the white traders had fortunately for himself, 
after a couple of days' wanderings, fallen in 
with some friendly Indians, who took pity on 




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OOWIKAPUN. 



him, clothed and fed him, and sent him back 
in care of some of their best canoe men. The 
result was he reached home long before his 
brave wife, who had to work her way along as 
we have described. 

Oowikapun listened to this story of the old 
man, whose name was Mookoomis, Indianlike, 
with patience, until he closed ; and then in 
strong language expressed his horror and 
indignation. It was most unfortunate that he 
should have heard it in the state of mind that 
he was in at that time. From his meeting 
with Memotas and Astumastao he had inferred 
that all white men were good people, but here 
was a rude awakening from that illusion. 
Terrible indeed have been the evils wrought 
by the white men in these regions where dwell 
the red men, as well as in other lands. The 
native prejudices and even their superstitious 
religions are not as great hindrances to the 
spread of the Gospel among th^m as are the 
abominable actions and rascalities of white 
men who bring their fire water and their sins 

' . . . "4,. 

from Christian lands. ^ '■ ' ■ 

For a time Mookoomis exerted a strong in- 



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' ' ■ i 



MOOKOOMIS AND HIS LEGENDS, 



91 



(^ 



fluence over Oovvikapun, and many were the 
hours they spent together. Oowikapun was 
in such a state of restlessness that the only 
times he could be said to be at peace were 
when either engaged in the excitements of 
hunting, or when listening to Mookoomis's 
excited words as he talked away, hour after 
hour, of the old legends and traditions of his 
people, whose glory, alas! was now de- 
parted. 

One evening, when a few interested listen- 
ers were gathered around the wigwam fire of 
the old story-teller, whom they had made 
happy by gifts of venison and tobacco, Oowi- 
kapun said to him, " Good father, you are 
wise in many things about which we are igno- 
rant, and long ago the old men of our people 
handed down to you from our forefathers the 
stories to be kept in remembrance; tell us 
how the white men come to be here, and if 
you know, we should like to hear also of the 
black people of whom the runners from other 
tribes have told us, who also exist in great 
numbers." All joined in this request ; and so, 
when the old man had filled and smoked his 



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92 



OOWIKAPUN. 



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calumet again, he told them the Indian tradi- 
tion of the origin of the human races : 

" Long ago, perhaps as many moons as 
there are stars in the sky, the Great Spirit 
made this world of ours, and fitted it up as a 
dwelling place for his people. Then he set to 
work to make man. He took a piece of white 
clay, and molded it and worked at it until he 
had formed a man. Then he put him into an 
oven which he had prepared, and there he 
baked him to make him firm and strong. 
When he took him out of the oven he found 
that he had kept him in too long, and he was 
burnt black. At this the Great Spirit was not 
pleased, and he said, * You will never do ; * 
and he gave him a great kick which sent him 
away south to that land where they have no 
snow, and where it is very hot, and told the 
black man that that was to be his land. 

" Then the Great Spirit took another piece 
of clay, and molded it an^ formed another ' 
man, and put him into the oven to bake. But 
as he had burnt the first one so badly he did 
not leave the second one in very long, and so 
when he took him out he found that he was 



I 



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MOOKOOMIS AND HIS LEGENDS. 



93 



V.-..,. 



still very white ; and at this he was not 
pleased, and he said : ' Ugh ! you will never 
do. You are too white. You will show the 
dirt too easily.' So he gave him a great kick, 
which sent him across the sea to the land 
where the white man first came from to this 
country. ■ f 

" Then," said Mookoomis, " the Great Spirit 
tried again, and he gathered the finest clay he 
could, and molded it and worked it until he 
was well pleased with it; and then he put it 
into the oven to bake it ; and now having the 
wisdom which came from the experience of 
the other two failures, he kept this one in just 
the right time, and so when he took him out 
he was of a rich reJ color, and he was very 
much pleased, and he said : * Ho ! ho ! you 
are just right ; you stay here.' So he gave this 
country to the Indian." 

This account of the origin of the human 
race, which differs considerably from Darwin's, 
very much interested Oowikapun and his com- 
panions, and so they urged Mookoomis to tell 
them from Indian traditions how it was that 

the races had got into the condition in which 
7 






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94 



OOWIKAPUN. 



they now are. So when the old man had 
filled and smoked his pipe again, and had 
seemed to be lost in thought for a time, he 
began once more : ' {;^ 

" When the Great Spirit had made these 
different men, and given each wives of their 
own color, he went away to his dwelling place 
beyond the setting sun, and there abode. 
After a while he thought he would come back 
and see how these men were getting on. So 
he called them to meet him at a certain place, 
and as he talked with them he found they 
were unhappy because they had nothing to do- 
When the Great Spirit heard this he told 
them to come back to-morrow and then he 
would make this all right for them. On the 
morrow, when they had met, they saw that the 
Great Spirit had three parcels. He laid them 
on the ground, and told them they were to 
choose which they would have. As the parcels 
differed very much in size it was decided that 
they would cast lots, and thus settle who 
should have the firjt choice. When this was 
done it was found that the black man was to 
choose first, the red man second, and the 



. I 



\ ■% 



MOOKOOMIS AND HIS LEGENDS. 



95 



V 



white man would have to take what was left. 
Sa the black man chose the largest parcel ; 
and when he opened it he found that it con- 
tained axes and hoes, and spades and shovels, 
and other implements of toil. The Indian 
selected the next largest bundle ; and when 
he had opened it he found that it contained 
bows and arrows, and spears and lances, and 
knives and other weapons used by the hunter. 
Then the turn of the white man came, and he 
took up the last parcel, which was a small one ; 
and when he had opened it there was nothing 
in it but a book. 

" When the black man and the red man saw 
that the white man had nothing but a book 
they laughed out loudly, and ridiculed him 
very much. But the Great Spirit , reproved 
them, and said, ' Wait a while, and perhaps 
you will think differently.' And so they now 
do ; for it has come to pass that because of 
the possession of that book the white man has 
become so learned and wise that he is now 
much stronger than the others, and seems to 
be able to make himself master of the other 
races, and to take possession of all lands." 



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I 



96 



OOWIKAPUN. 



CHAPTER VIII. ' * 

Seeking for Light. 

5HUS Oowikapun heard Mookoomis 

TP I at the camp fires tell these weird 
1 old stories, and in listening to him 
he tried to forget his own sorrows 
and anxieties. - 

When he thought he had become so well 
acquainted with him that he could make a 
confidant of him, he told him a little of what 
he had learned from Memotas, but he was 
careful to hide his own secret feelings, for he 
knew that Mookoomis was a strong pagan, as 
well as a great hater of the whites. Not as 
yet having met with any of the detested race 
who were Christians, he thought they were all 
alike, and had only come across the ocean to 
rob and cheat and kill the poor Indian and 
take possession of all his lands. » 

One evening, when they were alone, Oowi- 
kapun ventured to tell him about the book of 
heaven which the white man had, and which 



- /• 



■. i 



Seeking for Light. 



■. (. 



some Indians had got hold of and were read- 
ing with great interest, and that some of them 
had even accepted its teachings and were be- 
lieving in them. This news made Mookoomis 
very angry, and Oowikapun was sorry that he 
had told him ; but it was now too late, and so 
he had to listen while the angry man talked 
and gave his views on these things. 

He said, referring to the legend, that the 
Great Spirit never intended the book for the 
Indian, but that he had made him a hunter, 
and sent him out into the forest and the 
prairies, and on the great lakes and rivers, and 
there he was to listen and hear the Great 
Spirit's voice and see his works. " This," 
added Mookoomis, " is the Great Spirit's plan, 
and he will be angry with any of his red chil- 
dren who become dissatisfied with this ar- 
rangement, and try to go the white man's 
way or read his book." 

These talks did not bring comfort to Oowi- 
kapun, or lift the burden from his soul ; and so, 
in his desperation, although he did not expect 
much comfort, he told Mookoomis of his 
heart sorrows and disquietude of spirit. The 



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98 



OOWIKAPUN. 



old man did not get angry, but listened to 
him very patiently; and then advised and 
even urged him to go out into the woods 
away from every human sound, and in peace- 
ful solitudes let nature speak to him and 
soothe his troubled spirit. 

So Oovvikapun obeyed the voice of Moo- 
koomis, and, quickly arranging his affairs, he 
went out into the solitudes, far away from any 
human being, in the hope that there, alone 
with nature, he might get rest for his soul. In 
doing this he was only imitating thousands 
who, too stubborn or too ignorant to come to 
the great Comforter in his own way, are try- 
ing in some other way to find that peace 
which God alone can give. 

We pity those who ignorantly do these 
things, but what can we say of those who 
have been taught the plan of salvation 
through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
yet will go on talking pertly about God in 
nature, and of their ability to find themselves 
in him by studying him in his works ? God in 
nature, without Christ, is a riddle, a perplex- 
ity, a mystery. 



• i 



• I 



Seeking for Light. 



We pity poor Oowikapun. Just enough 
light had come to him to show him that he 
was a poor, miserable sinner, but he had not 
yet received enough to show him the true 
plan of salvation ; and so he was still groping 
along in the gloc i, and much more to be 
pitied than the thousands who know in theory 
what is God's plan of salvation, but who re- 
ject it because of their pride or hardness of 
heart; 

Everything seemed against him. His eyes 
were opened to see things now as never be- 
fore, for not as a skillful hunter, but as a 
seeker after peace, was he out in nature's sol- 
itudes. Everything around him seemed mys- 
terious and contradictory. This teacher, 
nature, whose lessons he had come to learn, 
seemed to be in a very perverse mood, as if to 
impart just the reverse of what he would 
learn, and seemed herself to be destitute of 
the ver)»' things be had hoped she would have 
imparted to him. 

Sharp and rude was his first awakening 
from his illusion. He had not gone far into 
the wilderness before it came to him, and it 



.•X. 



100 



OOWIKAPUN. 



happened thus. As he was walking along in 
the forest he heard, but a short distance 
ahead of him, a pitiful cry of a creature in 
distress. Quickly he hurried on, and was 
just in time to see the convulsive gasp of a 
beautiful young fawn that had been seized 
and was being mangled by a great, fierce wolf, 
which had found it where it had been hidden 
away by the mother deer before she had gone 
into the beaver meadows to feed. 

To send the death-dealing bullet through 
the brains of the savage wolf was soon done, 
but, alas ! it was too late to save the little in- 
nocent fawn, whose great, big, beautiful eyes 
were already glassy in death, and whose life- 
blood pouring out from the gaping wounds 
was crimsoning the leaves and flowers where 
it had fallen. 

"Is this," said Oowikapun, with sadness of 
spirit, " the first lesson nature has for me ? To 
her I am coming for peace and quietness of 
spirit, and is this what I first see?" Thus on 
he traveled until he reached the shores of a 
great lake, where he had resolved to stay for 
a time, at the advice of Mookoomis, to try to 



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Seeking for Light. 



lOI 



find in the solitudes, in communion with 
nature, that which his soul craved. 

As an observant hunter he had ever been a 
student of nature, but never before with such 
an object in his heart as now filled it. He 
found no happiness in his investigations, but 
was appalled at the sights ^vhich met him and 
the mysteries with which the study of them 
baffled him. Death and discord seemed to 
reign everywhere, and the strong seemed ever 
tyrannizing over the weak. 

Such sights as the following were ever be- 
fore him. One day, while sitting near the 
shore of the lake, where before him the sunlit 
waters played with the peL.bles at his feet, he 
saw a beautiful kingfisher hover in mid-air for 
an instant, and then suddenly plunge down in 
the water and quickly rise up again with a fine 
fish in his bill. Almost instantly, from the top 
of an old dead tree near the shore, he ob- 
served a fierce hawk, whose sharp eye had 
seen the fish thus captured. With a scream 
that rang out sharp and clear, it flew swiftly 
after the kingfisher, and so terrified it that it 
quickly dropped the fish and hurriedly flew 



ioll'ja 



loa 



OOWIKAPUN. 



away to a place of safety. Seizing the fish in 
its bill, with a scream of triumph, the hawk 
was about to return to the shore, when 
another actor appeared upon the scene. Away 
up. on the side of the cliff, which rose up a 
little back from the shore to the height of sev- 
eral hundred feet, on a projecting ledge of 
rocks, a pair of eagles came year after year 
and built their crude, wild nest. One of these 
great birds was watching the transaction going 
on below. When it heard the shrill scream of 
triumph from the fishhawk, it knew that the 
time for action had arrived. With both wings 
closed it shot down from the aerie, and ere 
the hawk, with its stolen plunder, had reached 
its old, storm-beaten tree, the king of birds 
struck it such a blow that, dazed and terrified, 
it dropped the fish, and barely succeeded in 
getting away. It was not the fishhawk the 
eagle was after, but fish ; and as the active 
bird saw the fish drop from the beak of the 
fishhawk, it flew down after it and caught it 
in mid-air ere it reached the water. Then, in 
majestic circles, it slowly ascended to its 
aerie. This sight under other circumstances 



:l 



\. 



Seeking for Light. 



103 



\ i 



[ 



would have been enjoyable ; but now, when he 
was a seeker in nature for peace and happi- 
ness, the greed and rapacity of the stronger 
over the weaker only filled him with sadness. 

Thus for several weeks he tried to study 
nature, or to learn lessons from her, while, far 
away from all his people, he dwelt in his little 
camp, which he had made at the foot of a 
beautiful birch tree, or wandered over the hills 
or in the forests. But he was no better off, for 
all the sights that met his eyes were very 
similar to those we have described. It was 
cruelty and death and destruction everywhere. 

Nature alone and unaided does not reveal 
Christ the Saviour. Since the fall, and the en- 
trance of sin with all of its attendant miseries 
into this once glorious world of ours, the study 
of nature, with all her vagaries, without the 
light of revelation to clear up her mysteries, is 
more apt to drive men from God than to draw 
them to him. 

So Oowikapun found out, especially one 
night, after tossing about on his bed of balsam 
boughs in his little tent. While lying there, 
utterly miserable and dissatisfied with himself, 



/^ 



."^V, 



j 



104 



OOWIKAPUN. 



he was startled by hearing, far away, the dull, 
sullen roar of thunder, telling of an approach- 
ing storm. Such was the mode in which he 
was that this sound was welcomed, and he 
sprang up rejoicing, for there had suddenly 
come into his mind the thought that perhaps 
now he would hear something in nature's voice 
from which he could draw comfort and happi- 
ness. 

With this hope in his heart he went out of 
his tent and seated himself on a rock near at 
hand. One by one the stars disappeared as 
the thick, black clouds came rolling up, quickly 
covering the whole expanse of heaven, and 
making the night one of inky darkness, save 
when the cliffs and forest, islands and lake, 
were illumined by the vivid lightning's flash. 

Soothed by that awesome feeling which 
comes to many in the brief last moments which 
precede the burst of the tempest, Oowikapun 
was comforted, and began to say to himself, 
" At last I hear the voice of nature for which I 
have so long been waiting, and now tranquil- 
lized I wait for all she has to tell me of comfort 
and of rest." 



1 

I 



■ t. 



Seeking for Light. 



105 



Hardly had these thoughts passed through 
his mind ere there came a lightning flash so 
vivid, and a thunderbolt so near and powerful, 
followed by a crashing peal of thunder so 
sudden and so deafening, that Oowikapun was 
completely stunned and thrown helpless to the 
ground. When he recovered consciousness the 
storm had nearly died away. A few muttering 
growls of thunder could still be heard, and 
some flashes of lightning upon the distant 
horizon told in which direction the storm had 
disappeared. 

Oowikapun staggered to his feet, and tried 
to comprehend what had happened. That 
something had struck him was evident. What 
it was at first he was too bewildered to under- 
stand. Thinking the best thing he could do 
in this dazed condition would be to go back 
under the shelter of his little tent, he turned 
to do so, but found it an impossibility. The 
thunderbolt that had stunned him had struck 
the large birch tree, and so shattered it to 
pieces that, as it fell, it had crushed down the 
little wigwam into a helpless wreck. 

Great indeed was the disappointment and 



■ 



io6 



OOWIKAPUN. 



// 



vexation of Oowikapun, who, while vainly 
imagining that at length he was about to hear 
the soothing voice of nature to comfort and 
bless him, got from her such a crack that he 
was knocked senseless, and, in addition, had 
his dwelling place completely wrecked. Grop- 
ing round in the ruins, he succeeded in finding 
his blanket, which he threw over his shoulders 
as a slight protection against the heavy rain, 
which continued falling all night. 

Oowikapun still lingered in his lonely forest 
retreat. His pride revolted at the idea of hav- 
ing to return to the village and confess that all 
his efforts had been in vain and that only de- 
feat and humiliation had been his lot. 

So a new wigwam was built in a more 
sheltered place amid the dark evergreen trees. 
His depression of spirit was such that for a 
long time he left his abode only when hunger 
compelled him to hunt for his necessary food. 
When he did resume his wanderings they were 
generally in the night. The singing of the 
birds had no charm for liim, and the bright- 
ness of the summer days chased not away his 
More congenial to him were the 



I 



u- 



gloom. 



Seeking for Light. 



107 



Xr^ 



' ' , J 



" watches of the night," when the few sounds 
that fell upon his ears were weird and ghostly. 
Here, annid the gloomy shadows where the 
only sounds were the sighing of the winds 
among the trees, the melancholy hootings of 
the owls, or the distant howlings of the wolves, 
. ^ J he passed many weary hours. 

The psalmist, with adoring love, could say: 
" Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto 
night showeth knowledge," but to Oowikapun 
neither the ** speech " of the day nor the 
" knowledge " of the night gave any responsive 
answer to his heart's longings or led him any 
nearer to the source of soul comfort. And 
yet nature spoke to him as grandly as it was 
possible for her to utter her voice, and her last 
efifort was of the sublimest character and such 
as but few mortals are permitted to witness. 

It came to Oowikapun one night when he 
had aimlessly wandered far out from the shad- 
ows of the forest gloom, to a spot where the 
canopy of heaven, bright with its multitudes 
of stars, was above him. 

Perhaps in no other land can nature in her 
varied aspects of sublimity and grandeur as 



io8 



OOWIKAPUN. 



regards celestial phenomena, be better studied 
than in the wild north-land. Her cyclonic 
storms in summer and her blizzard blasts in 
winter are at times not only terrific in their 
destructive power, but they are also over- 
whelmingly grand in their appearance. 

Then her " visions of the night " are at 
times sublimely beautiful. Her star-decked 
vault of heaven, absolutely free from all mists 
and fogs and damps, seems so high and vast. 
The stars glisten and twinkle with wondrous 
clearness. The flashing meteors fade out but 
slowly, and the moon is so white and bright 
that her shadows cast are often as vivid as 
those of the sun in some other lands. 

But nothing equals a first-class field night 
of the mysterious aurora borealis. No other 
phenomenon of nature in magnitude of dis- 
play, in varied brilliancy of color, in bewilder- 
ing rapidity of movement, in grandeur so 
celestial, in its very existence so unaccount- 
able, is calculated to lift man up and away 
from things earthly, into the very realm and 
presence of the spiritual, as does a first-class 
display of the northern lights, as seen in the 



I 






Seeking for Light. 



109 



far north-land. While they are generally 
more frequent in the winter months than at 
other times of the year, yet they are very un- 

i 

certain in their comings, and sometimes burst 
upon the world and illuminate and fill up with 
celestial glory the brief hours of some of the 
\\ short summer nights. 

To Oowikapun, in his mental darkness and 
disquietude, there came one of these more 
than earthly visions of entrancing beauty. If 
in any one of nature's phenomena she could 
speak to a troubled soul, surely it would be in 
this. For while to Elijah the answer was in 
the still small voice, yet man unaided by divine 
~ revelation prefers the earthquake and the fire, 
or some other grand, overwhelming manifesta- 
tion of nature's power, which appeals to the 
sensuous rather than to the spiritual. 

To these Northern Indians the auroras have 
ever been associated with the ghostly or spirit- 
ual. In some of the tribes the literal transla- 
tion of the northern lights is the " spirits of 
their forefathers going out to battle." 

The display that Oowikapun gazed upon 

was one of more than ordinary sublimity. He 
8 






■■ 



no 



OOWIKAPUN. 



had left his little wigwam which nestled 
among the balsams, and had gone out from 
the forest gloom and had seated himself on 
the shore of the lake where the little waves 
made soothing music as they played among 
the pebbles at his feet. The sun had gone 
down in splendor, leaving a glorious radiance 
of sapphire and crimson on hills and waves. 
Quietly and imperceptibly the shadows of 
night mantled the long twilight gloaming, and 
then one by one the stars came out from their 
hiding places, until the whole high dome of 
heaven was bright. The milky way bright- 
ened into wondrous distinctness, until it 
seemed to Oowikapun like a great pathway, 
and he wondered, as held in the tradition of 
his people, if on it, by and by, he should 
travel to the happy hunting grounds of his 
fathers. 

After a time a brightness began to dawn in 
the northern sky, and then from it some bril- 
liant streamers of light suddenly shot up to the 
heavens above. Then wavy ribbons of light 
quickly followed, and rapidly unrolling them- 
selves parallel with the horizon, quivered and 



l.-\ 



Seeking for Light. 



Ill 






danced in rhythmic movements, blazing out at 
times in varied vivid colors as they gracefully 
undulated from east to west. Often had 
Oowikapun seen these displays, but up to this 
time he had only gazed with languid interest 
upon these nightly visitants. This night, how- 
ever, there was a display so glorious that he 
stood as one entranced. 

With a suddenness that can be shown only 
by electrical phenomena, there almost instan- 
taneously shot up from below the eastern hori- 
zon a dazzling blaze of gorgeous electrical 
light, which in successive bounds rushed on 
and on until, like a brilliant meteor a million 
times magnified, it spanned the heavens, and 
for a time in purest white it seemed to hang 
an arch of truce from heaven to earth. For a 
little while it quivered in its dazzling white- 
ness, and then from it flashed out streamers in 
all the colors of the rainbow. With one end 
holding on to the arch of snowy whiteness 
they danced and scintillated and blazed until 
the whole heavens seemed aglow. Then 
breaking loose they seemed to form them- 
selves into whole battalions of soldiers, and 



112 



OOWIKAPUN, 



advanced and fought and retreated until the 
heavens seemed to be the battlefield of the 
ages, and stained with the blood of millions 
slain. During all the apparent carnage, great 
streamers waved continuously above the con- 
tending armies, and seemed like great battle 
flags leading on the forces to greater deeds of 
valor. Sometimes they seemed to change 
into great fiery swords, ready to add to the 
apparent carnage and destruction that seemed 
so intensely real. 

Thus in ever-changing glories the vision of 
the heavens above continued, while Oowika- 
pun, awed and subdued in spirit, felt thankful 
that he was only a spectator upon such scenes 
of ghostly carnage and blood. But impressive 
and glorious as what had already been re- 
vealed, the auroras had yet in reserve the cli- 
max of their display, and when it came it 
nearly froze his blood in his veins, and threw 
him trembling and terrified on his face upon 
the ground. Suddenly did the change come. 
With the rapidity of a lightning flash, the 
great quivering arch of light transformed itself 
into a corona of such dazzling splendor that 



■\\ 



■ \ 



Seeking for Light. 



"3 



■4 



no words can describe it. From purest white 
the multitudes of streamers, of which it was 
now composed, suddenly c^?«nged to pink and 
blue, Jind green and yellow, all the time flit- 
ting and scintillating so rapidly that the eyes 
were pained in their vain efforts to follow the 
rapid flights. 

Then in a twinkling of an eye the whole 
changed to a "deep, blood-red crimson — so 
bloodlike, so terrible, so dazzling, so awful, 
that the brave man was crushed down, terrified 
and subdued before this blinding display of 
the omnipotent power of the Great Spirit. 

The dauntless courage that had made him 
exult at the prospect of meeting the fiercest 
bear in the forest, with no other weapon than his 
trusty hunting knife, or the most hostile foe of 
his tribe, was of no avail here, and so, a crushed 
and vanquished man, as soon as he could, he 
cowered back to his wigwam, where, wrapping 
himself in his blanket, he long remained. He 
trembled at the thought of having been in such 
apparent contact with the spirit land, while his 
unhappy soul chided him with a sense of his 
unfitness for that unknown life beyond. 



i 



\s 



'^ 



114 



OOWIKAPUN. 



Poor Oowikapun, he was like many who, al- 
though they live under happier influences 
and amid the blaze of Gospel day, yet i>olishly 
think that if some heavenly manifestation of 
the glory beyond, some glimpse of the land 
that is afar off, or some sight of its celestial in- 
habitants, were given them to enjoy, very 
quickly would they be convinced and con- 
verted. 

John, the beloved disciple, saw the New 
Jerusalem and its inhabitants; dazzled and con- 
fused he fell at the feet of one of those re- 
deemed ones, and worshiped the creature 
instead of the Creator. 

Something more than the mere visions of 
heaven's glories or northern auroras are nec- 
essary to give peace to the troubled soul. 
Even so found unhappy Oowikapun, for when 
the excitement of these night visions wore off, 
he felt more than ever crushed down with a 
sense of his own littleness, while darker seemed 
his spiritual vision than ever before these 
auroral glories had blazed and flashed around 
him. 

Disgusted and disappointed, he packed up 



\ 



(■ ' 



Seeking for Light. 



"5 






his few things and returned to his village 
more miserable and depressed in spirit than 
ever. 

He had had many evidences of a Creator, 
but had met with nothing that told him of a 
Saviour. The idea of being able to " look up 
through nature unto nature's God," is an utter 
impossibility unless the one looking has some 
knowledge of God in Christ Jesus. With this 
knowledge in his possession he can answer as 
did the devout philosopher when asked the 
question, " What are the latest discoveries in 
nature?" replied, "God everywhere." 

With God revealed in Christ Jesus there is 
something real in which to trust. Her mys- 
teries that long perplexed are cleared up, and 
darkness that long continued is dissipated, and 
the trusting one realizes that no longer is he 
slowly and feebly feeling his way along on the 
" sinking sands " of uncertainties, but is se- 
curely built on the " Rock of ages." 



■■ii'H 



ii6 



OOWIKAPUN. 



,( •• 



//■ 



>ll 



II 



CHAPTER IX. 
Physical Torture. 

jOWIKAPUN shortly after his return 
[J I to the village found his way to the 

I tent of Mookoomis, and candidly 
told him of his complete failure to 
find anything of comfort or peace of mind in 
communion with nature. He said he had 
faithfully carried out his directions, but that 
everything he hoped would have in it help or 
satisfaction seemed to have had just the reverse. 
Mookoomis listened intently to all he had to 
say, and then, perhaps for the first time in his 
life, freely admitted his own dissatisfaction and 
uncertainty of belief in their Indian way; but 
he was an obstinate, wicked old man, and 
determined, if possible, to keep Oowikapun 
walking, as he again said, " as our forefathers 
walked." So he urged him to make the great 
trial of fasting and personal torture, and see if 
in the delirium of physical agonies the voice 
of comfort for which he was longing would 
not come to him. 



I i 



.\ '■■- 



Physical Torture. 



117 



f 



For a long time Oowikapun hesitated to 
undertake this terrible ordeal, called by the 
Western Indians the hock-e-a-yum, a ceremony 
so severe and dreadful that many an Indian 
has never recovered from its agonies. Great 
indeed must be the wretched disquietude that 
will cause human beings, who are made to 
shrink from pain, endure what thousands vol- 
untarily submit to, if only they can get peace 
to their souls. 

Oowikapun spent weeks in a state of inde- 
cision, and then resolved to follow the advice 
of old Mookoomis ; and so in his blindness 
and folly he found himself, although he knew 
it not, in company with a vast multitude who 
in their ignorance and superstition, are hoping 
by inflicting torture on their bodies to atone 
for sin and merit heaven. 

Great indeed was, and still is, this innumer- 
able company of deluded ones. They are 
found by the missionaries almost everywhere. 
The poor, ignorant Hindoo on the burning 
plains of his native land, seated on a stone 
pillar, with arm extended until it has 
become fixed and rigid, while the ever-growing 



ii8 



OOWIKAPUN. 



f 



finger nails have pierced through his clenched 
hand, is one of the sad company. Another is 
that poor fanatic who measured the whole dis- 
tance, many hundreds of miles, which 
stretched from his jungle home to the Ganges 
by prostrating his body on the ground as a 
measuring rod. In this sad procession are 
miUions and millions of unhappy souls, with- 
out God, and therefore without hope. They 
are going down from the darkness of sin and 
error to the darkness of the tomb, with none 
to whisper in their ears the story of redeeming 
love ; and so in their blindness and folly, 
believing that God delights in misery and 
pain and suffering, they torture their poor 
bodies ; and in some instances still, as in olden 
times, " give of the fruit of their body for the 
sin of their soul," if by these or any other 
means they can propitiate the One whom they 
hope can give them peace. 

The contemplation of a multitude so vast 
and in a condition so deplorable makes our 
hearts sad, and shows us how imperative is the 
call to each of us to do all we can to carry to 
them, or, if this is impossible, to aid in send- 



Physical Torture. 



119 



ing to them, the blessed truth which alone can 
make them happy. Poor Oowikapun was now 
in this sad company. All his fears are aroused, 
and in his vain efforts to quiet them he is about 
to go through a most severe ordeal of fasting 
and acute physical suffering. How terrible is 
sin ! How dreadful must be the goadings of 
the guilty conscience when men and women 
will so punish themselves, if thereby they can 
find relief! 

When Oowikapun had finally resolved on his 
course of action he immediately set about 
carrying it out. He joined himself to a com- 
pany of " braves" who were also going to pass 
through the ceremony of hock-e-a-yum. Differ- 
ent motives were in the hearts of those who 
were about to undergo the trying ordeal. 
Some of them were ambitious to become great 
warriors or hunters, others were ambitinus to 
become leaders or great medicine men among 
the tribes. To succeed in their ambitious 
purposes, it was necessary that the ordeal of 
suffering should be passed through. 

While the majority were thus fired by their 
selfish hopes of attaining prominence and 



\>, 






i 



1 20 



OOWIKAPUN. 



position as the result of their suffering, there 
were several like Oowikapun who were un- 
happy in their souls, and were going to try 
this method in hope of relief. Perhaps, like 
him, they had in some way or other been in a 
place where a few rays of light had shone 
upon their souls. These had revealed to them 
the sinfulness of their lives and the hideous- 
ness of sin ; but being ignorant of the great 
Physician, instead of looking to him for heal- 
ing and happiness, they were going to see if 
there was any efficacy in these trying ordeals. 

As the ceremonies were only held in the far 
West, where the devotees gathered from various 
tribes, Oowikapun and those with him had to 
travel for many days ere they reached the 
place. 

Far beyond the limits of the hunting 
grounds of his people did he and his deluded 
comrades journey. They had to work up the 
swift current and make many portages around 
the rapids of the Nelson River. Then across 
the northern part of treacherous Lake Winni- 
peg they ventured in their frail canoes, and only 
their consummate skill in the management of 






i 



H 



'M 




c 
o 

a 
o 

e 



i^USii 






•' ' 



Physical Torture. 



123 



these frail boats saved them from going down 
to watery graves. 

Up the mighty Saskatchewan for nearly a 
thousand miles they hurried on. If t^heir 
minds had not been troubled at the prospect 
of their coming sufferings, they would as 
hunters have been delighted by that trip 
through that glorious western country which 
then teemed with game. Multitudes of buf- 
falo coming down to the great river to drink, 
first gazed on them with curiosity and then, 
when alarmed, went thundering over the 
plains. The great antlered elks were seen in 
troops upon the bluffs and hills, and bears of 
different kinds went lumbering along the 
shores. Beautiful antelopes with their large 
luminous eyes looked at them for a moment 
and then went flying over the prairies like the 
gazelles in the desert. 

They landed at Edmonton, where now there 
nestles in beauty on its picturesque bluffs a 
flourishing little town. Oowikapun and his 
comrades in those days, however, found only 
the old historic fort, even then famous as the 
scene of many an exciting event between the 



■F 



J 34 



OOWIKAPUN. 



enterprising fur traders and the proud, war- 
like Indians of the plains. 

Here they left their canoes, and after ex- 
changing some furs for needed supplies they 
started southwest on the long trail of many 
days* toilsome traveling, until at length the 
place of the fearful ordeal was reached. 

Into the details of the scenes and events of 
the Indian ceremony of torture, I am not go- 
ing to enter. Catlin has with pen and brush 
described it in a way to chill the blood and 
fill our sleeping hours with horrid dreams. 

Suffice to say that Oowikapun put himself 
in the hands of the torturers, and, first of all, 
they kept him for four days and nights with- 
out allowing him a mouthful of food or drink. 
Neither did they permit him to have a mo- 
ment's sleep. Then they stripped off his 
upper garments, and, cutting long, parallel 
gashes in his breast down to the bone, they 
lifted up the flesh and there tied to the quiver- 
ing flesh ends of horsehair ropes about three 
quarters of an inch in diameter. The other 
ends of these two ropes were fastened to a 
high pole about fifteen feet from the ground. 



%r 



I 



' 


■''/■' 


— — n 

1 
1 


[ 


p. ■ , - : ■ ■ -'■"< 


i 




Physical Torture. "• 


1 

125 




At first the upper ends of these rop 


es were - . 



drawn through rude pulleys, and poor Oowi- 
kapun was dragged up six or eight feet from 
the ground and held there for several min- 
utes by the bleeding, lacerated, distended 
muscles of his breast. Then the ropes were 
suddenly loosened from above, and he fell 
with a sickening thud to the ground. Quickly 
they raised him up on his feet and made fast 
the ropes to the upper end of the pole, and left 
him to struggle and pull until the muscles rot- 
ted or were worn away, and he was free. Four 
days passed by ere he succeeded in breaking 
away, and during that time not a morsel of 
food or a drop of water was given him. 

Weeks passed away ere Oowikapun recovered 
from those fearful wounds, and, after all, what 
did they accomplish for him ? Nothing at all. 
He was, if possible, more wretched in mind 
than in body. No voice of comfort had he 
heard. No dispelling of the darkness, no lift- 
ing of the heavy loads, no assurance of pardon 
and forgiveness. Is it any wonder that he 
was discouraged, and that his sharp-eyed 

neighbors looked at him at times with sus- 
9 



i^ 



<■ ^ 



126 



OOWIKAPUN. 






picion, and said one to another that some- 
thing must be wrong in his head? 

To convince them that his mind was not 
disordered or his reason affected, Oowikapun 
attended the councils of the tribe, and ever 
showed himself clear-headed in discussion and 
debate. He applied himself with renewed 
diligence to his work as a hunter, and remem- 
bering Memotas's love for his household, 
strove to imitate him in his conduct toward 
his mother and the younger members of his 
family. Disgusted and annoyed that nothing 
but disappointment and suffering had come 
to him from following the advice of Moo- 
koomis, he shunned his society and would 
have none of his counsel. 

So passed the summer months, and when 
the winter came again there arose in the 
breast of Oowikapun a longing desire, doubt- 
less it had been there before, to go and see 
Astumastao, the brave maiden who had been 
his real friend, and had told him words which 
had done him more good than anything else 
he had heard since he had parted from 
Memotas. 







\\ 



Physical Torture. 



127 



r" '. 



About her he had never spoken a word to 
anyone, but her bright eyes had buried them- 
selves in his heart, while her brave words had 
fixed themselves in his memory. 

So making up some excuse in reference to 
business with his relatives in the distant vil- 
lage where dwelt the fair maiden, he prepared 
for the journey. He arrayed himself in new 
and picturesque apparel, and with his little 
outfit on a light sled, and his gun in his hand, 
and his ax and knife in his belt, he set off for 
the village where he had made such a sad fall, 
after all his resolves to have nothing more to 
do with devil worship. 

Is it surprising that, as he hurried along, he 
forgot much of his sorrow, and was filled with 
pleasurable excitement at the prospect of 
meeting Astumastao again ? True, he would 
check himself and say he was acting or think- 
ing foolishly, for Astumastao might be mar- 
ried or the bride selected, by her uncle, for 
some one else, for all he knew. Why, then, 
should he so think about her? True, she had 
been very kind to him in his sorrow, but then 
he had only met her once, and so why should 



r' 



)• 



128 



OOWIKAPUN. 



he be continually thinking about her? Thus 
he reasoned with himself, but he kept hurry- 
ing along as never before, and he did not try 
very hard to banish her from his heart and 
memory. And fortunate it was for Astumas- 
tao that Oowikapun was on the way. 

When Astumastao returned to the village 
after her conversation with Oowikapun she 
found the people excited by his story of the 
fire burning in his wigwam and the meal pre- 
pared and ready for him. How these things 
could have been done without anyone finding 
it out, when they were all so alert and quick- 
witted, amazed t^iem. Then it was to them 
such a breach of the rules or usages of such 
occasions. Who, they said in their excitement, 
could have been so presumptuous as to break 
the long-established custom, and take in food 
and fire to one of th'.-' dancers ? 

While some said that one of their number 
must have done it while the others slept so 
soundly after the exciting days through which 
they had been passing, there were others, tinged 
with superstition, who declared, with bated 
breath, that the gods must have had special 



i 



Physical Torture. 



129 



love for him, and had themselves come and 
supplied his wants. 

To all of these things Astumastao listened, 
and, not being suspected, she kept what she 
knew in her heart. She was an active, brave 
girl, and knew how to handle both the paddle 
and the gun. Kistayimoowin, her uncle, was 
pleased with her prowess and industry, and 
while possessing the pagan ideas about 
women, so that he would never allow himself 
to show them any particular affection, yet ever 
since she had been brought as a little child 
into his wigwam he had treated her not un- 
kindly. With his superstitious nature he had 
been strongly influenced by the words of the 
missionary, when he handed the orphan child 
over to his care, and had told him that if he 
wanted the favor of the Great Spirit he must 
treat her kindly and well. 

So it happened that as Kistayimoowin had 
no children of his own, this bright, active girl 
was always with him and .his wife as they, 
Indianlike, moved from one hunting ground to 
another in quest of different kinds of game. 
As she was so quick and observant, her uncle 






;■« 



I to 



OOWIKAPUN. 



.,/■■ 



had taught her many things about the habits 
and instincts of the different animals and the 
best method known for their capture. The re- 
sult was she had become a very Diana, skillful 
and enthusiastic in the chase. 

Thus the years rolled on, and she grew to 
beautiful young womanhood, and more than 
one pair of eyes looked toward her as the one 
they would like to woo and win, or, as they 
thought of it, be able by abundant or valuable 
gifts to purchase her from her uncle. Up to 
this tiiTie, however, he had repelled most de- 
cidedly all advances made to him for her, and 
had acted in so harsh a manner toward all 
would-be suitors that they had been obliged 
to keep at a respectful distance. So Astumas* 
tao was still free as a prairie breeze. 







A Mortal Wound. 



131 



CHAPTER X. 
A Mortal Wound. 



fiiaiiaiiaii 



liiaiisiianattaiiB 



'"" ""I HE summer following the visit of 
T^ I Oowikapun, Kistayimoowin had 
taken his wife and his niece and 
gone out to an island in one of the 
large lakes to hunt and fish. Theirs was the 
only wigwam on that island that summer. 
While out in a small canoe on the lake one 
day shooting ducks, his gun, which was an old 
flintlock, unfortunately burst, and, not only 
severely wounded him, but caused him to up- 
set the canoe while out about half a mile from 
the shore. His wife and Astumastao heard 
his wild whoop of danger, and quickly realized 
the sad position he was in. Unfortunately 
they had no other canoe and no friendly helper 
was within range of their voices. Astumastao, 
however, like all Indian girls, could swim like 
a duck ; and so without hesitancy she sprang 
into the lake and as rapidly as possible swam 
out to the rescue of her wounded uncle, 






132 



OOWIKAPUN. 






who sorely needed her assistance. The ex- 
plosion of the gun had nearly blown off 
one of his hands, and some pieces of the 
barrel had entered into his body. The result 
was that he was very helpless and weak from 
the loss of blood. 

Astumastao reached him as soon as possible, 
and finding it impossible to right the canoe, 
she succeeded in tying a deerskin thon.v 
around the wounded wrist, and then resolved 
to try to swim with him to the shore. It was 
a desperate undertaking, but she knew just 
what to do to succeed, if it were possible. The 
wounded man could do nothing to help him- 
self, so she placed him so Ihat he could put 
his unwounded hand upon her back, and thus 
keep afloat, then she bravely struck out for 
the distant shore. 

0.*iiy those who have tried to rescue a help- 
less person in the water can have any correct 
idea of the fearful task she had to perform ; 
but buoyed up by hope and her naturally 
brave, true heart, she persevered, and, al- 
though at times almost exhausted, she suc- 
ceeded in reaching the shallow water, out into 



1 

i 



7 •; 



i 



A Mortal Wound. 133 

which her feeble aunt had ventured to come 
to assist her. As well as they could, they 
helped or carried the almost exhausted man to 
the wigwam, and immediately made use of 
every means at their disposal to stop the 
wounds from which his life's blood seemed to 
be ebbing away. 

The poor man was no sooner laid on his 
bed, weak and exhausted, than he turned his 
eyes toward Astumastao and startled her, 
although he spoke in a voice that was little 
above a whisper. 

What he said was, " Nikumootah ! " 
(" Sing ! ") 

Astumastao hesitated not ; but choking 
back her emotions she began in sweet and 
soothing notes the song we have already heard 
her sing : 

" Jesus, my all, to heaven is gone, 
He whom I fix my hopes upon ; 
His track I see, and I'll pursue 
The narrow way, till him I view." 

When she had sung two or three verses the 
sick man said, *• Who is this Jesus ? " 

Not much was it that was remembered 



r 



134 



OOWIKAPUN. 



through all the long years that had passed 
away since Astumastao had received her last 
Sabbath school lesson, but she called up all 
she could, and in that which still clung to 
her memory was the matchless verse : " For 
God so loved the world, that he gave his only 
begottc i :\ that whosoever belie veth in him 
should no^ perish, but have everlasting life." 
The sick man was thrilled and startled, and 
said, " Say it again and again ! " So over and 
over again she repeated it. " Can you remem- 
ber anything more ? " he whispered. 

" Not much," she replied, " only I remem- 
ber that I was taught that this Jesus, the Son 
of the Great Spirit, said something like this: 
* Him that cometh to me I will in i.j wise 
cast out.' " 

" Did they say," said the dying man, "that 
that included the Indian ? May he, too, go in 
the white man's way ? " , 

" O yes," she answered ; " I remember about 
that very well. The missionary was constantly 
telling us that the Great Spirit and his Son 
loved everybody — Indians as well as whites — 
and that we were all welcome to come to him. 



:•..■' 



A Mortal Wound. 



135 



rw' 






Indeed it must be so, for there are the words 
I ha. e learned about it out of his great book : 
* Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast 
out; " 

" Sing again to me," he said. And so she 
sang : 

" Lo ! glad I come ; and thou, blest Lamb, 
Shalt take me to thee, as I am ; 
Nothing but sin have I to give ; 
Nothing but love shall I receive." 

"What did you say his name was?" said 
the dying man. 

" Jesus," she sobbed. 

*' Lift up my head," he said to his weeping 
wife. " Take hold of my hand, my niece," he 
said. " It is getting so dark I cannot see the 
trail. I have no guide. What did you say 
was his name ? " 

" Jesus," again she sobbed. And with that 
name on his lips he was gone. 

Call not this picture overdrawn. Hundreds 
of these Indians have long lost faith in pagan- 
ism, and in their hours of peril, or in the pres- 
ence of death even, many of them who have 
learned but little about Christianity cling to 



136 



OOWIKAPUN. 



those who have some knowledge of the great 
salvation and strive to grope into the way. 

The two women were alone on the island 
with their dead, and with no canoe by which 
they could return to the distant mainland. 
But Indian women are quick at devising plans 
to meet emergencies, and so Astumastao 
speedily resolved on a plan to bring help to 
them. What she did was thi^, She cut a 
long pole from a clump of tall, slender trees 
which grew near their wigwam, and then 
securely fastening her shawl to it, she hoisted 
it up as a signal on a point where it was visible 
from the shore. Soon it was observed, and 
help came speedily. 

There was a good deal of genuine sorrow 
expressed by the Indians in their own quiet 
way. After many questions had been asked 
and answered, they wrapped up the body in 
birch bark, and conveyed it across to the 
mainland, and there buried it with their usual 
Indian pagan rites, much to the regret of As- 
tumastao. 

Left alone with her aunt, who was quite 
feeble, upon Astumastao fell the chief work of 



A Mortal Wound. 



«37 



supplying food for both. Bravely did she ap- 
ply herself to the task ; and such was her skill 
and industry that a good degree of success 
crowned her efforts, and very seldom indeed 
was it that their wigwam was destitute of 
food. Often had she some to spare for the old 
and feeble ones who, according to the heart- 
less custom of some of the tribes, when they 
reach the time of life when they can neither 
snare rabbits nor catch fish, are either thrown 
out of the wigwams in the bitter cold, and left 
to freeze to death, or they are deserted in the 
forests, and left to be devoured by the wild 
beasts. 

Astumastao, when a poor orphan child, had 
been rescued and kindly cared for, and she 
never forgot those early days and kindly deeds 
performed for her happiness, and so now we 
see her ever striving to comfort or help others. 

During the remaining part of the summer 
which followed the sad death of her uncle, she 
succeeded in killing a number of reindeer, 
which are at times very plentiful in those high 
latitudes. Annoyed by the numerous flies, 
these reindeer frequently rush into the great 



138 



OOWIKAPUN. 



/ 



lakes and rivers ; and as the Indians can pad- 
dle their light canoe much faster than these 
animals can swim, they easily overtake and 
kill them. 

Astumastao, with a couple of other Indian 
girls, succeeded in killing quite a number of 
them. Their plan was to lash a sharp knife 
to the end of a pole, and then when they had 
paddled near enough they stabbed the deer 
and dragged it ashore. All the deer do not 
give up without a struggle. This Astumastao 
found to her cost one day. She and a couple 
of young maidens about her own age had hur- 
ried out to try and kill a famous deer whose 
many-pronged antlers told that Ifie was one of 
the great monarchs of the forest. When they 
tried to get near enough to stab him, he sud- 
denly attacked the canoe with such fury that, 
although Astumastao succeeded in mortally 
wounding him, yet he so smashed the canoe 
that it was rendered useless, and the girls had 
to spring out and swim to the shore, which 
was a long way off. However, they reached it 
in safety, amid the laughter of the people, 
who had observed their discomfiture. Noth- 






; ' 



A Mortal Wound. 



^39 



ing daunted, however, the plucky girls quickly- 
secured another canoe and paddled out and 
brought in their splendid deer. 

When the long, cold winter set in again, 
Astumastao applied herself very diligently to 
the work of trapping and snaring rabbits and 
some of the smaller fur-bearing animals. In 
her hunting excursions she followed her plans 
of the preceding winters, and often plunged 
farther into the dense forest to set her traps 
and snares beyond those of any other woman 
hunter. 

Here, in the solitude of nature, she could 
sing to her heart's content while deftly weav. 
ing her snares or setting her traps. On one of 
these trips she caught a glimpse of a black 
fox, and suspecting him to be the thief who 
had been robbing her snares of some rabbits 
during the last few days, she resolved if possi- 
ble to capture the valuable animal. His rich 
and costly fur would buy her and her aunt 
some valuable blankets and other things much 
required for their comfort. Returning quickly 
back to her wigwam, she succeeded in borrow- 
ing a fox trap from a friendly hunter, and then 



\- 



140 



OOWIKAPUN. 



ll 



making all preparations she started very early 
the next morning for the spot where she in- 
tended to set her trap. The distance was so 
great that she had to tramp along for several 
hours on her snowshoes ere she reached the 
place. But the air was clear and bracing, and 
hoping for success in her undertaking she felt 
but little fatigue. Skillfully she set the trap, 
and then walking backward, and with a heavy 
balsam brush carefully brushing out her tracks, 
she retraced her steps to the ordinary trail, 
and began collecting her rabbits and partridges 
from the snares. Although the fox had robbed 
her of several, yet she was more than or- 
dinarily successful and gathered suflficient to 
make a heavy load. 

At one place the path led her through a 
dense, gloomy part of the forest, where the 
great branches of the trees seemed to interlock 
above her head, and shut out the greater part 
of the light and sunshine. But she was a 
brave Indian maiden who knew no such thing 
as fear, and so, throwing her heavy load over 
her shoulder, and supporting it with the carry- 
ing strap from her forehead, she cheerily 



I: 



h 



i'fi 



A Mortal Wound. 



141 



moved along, thinking how happy she would 
be if she captured that fox to-morrow, when 
suddenly the shriek of a wild beast rang in her 
ears, and she was hurled' down on her face to 
the ground. 




10 



■iiiiai 



14a 



OOWIKAPUN. 



/ 






CHAPTER XI. 
The Rescue. 

" """"""• "gE left Oowikapun hurrying along on 

\v 7 i willing feet at the place in the forest 

I where he had first observed the 

snowshoe tracks of the hunter of 

the village he was approaching. Observing 

that the tracks were those of a woman, he 

could not help hoping that they were those 

the fair maiden whom he had met near that 

same spot two winters before. This hope filled 

him with pleasant anticipation, and so on and 

on he hurried. 

As he strode along swiftly but quietly, an 
object caught his attention that filled him 
with excitement and called for all his hunter's 
experience and trained instincts. Crouching 
down, and yet hurrying along rapidly, in front 
of him, not three hundred yards away, was an 
enormous catamount. This was not a mere 
lynx or wild cat, but one of those great fierce 
brutes, more allied to the mountain lion of the 



The Rescue. 



M3 






Rockies, or the panthers, now about extinct, in 
the western and northern part of this continent. 

As Oowikapun watched the graceful, danger- 
ous brute gliding along before him, the 
thought came into his mind that perhaps this 
was the very one whose wild, weird shrieks 
had sounded in his ears so dolefully, as he 
shivered in the little wigwam of the village he 
was now approaching. 

Knowing^ the habits of these animals, he 
supposed this one, from its rapid, persistent, 
forward movements, and the absence of that 
alert watchfulness which they generally possess, 
was on the track of a deer. 

Oowikapun dropped to the ground and care- 
fully looked for the tracks of the game that 
this fierce catamount was pursuing, but to his 
surprise he could not discover the footprints of 
any animal. All at once the truth flashed 
upon him, that this fierce brute had got on 
the trail of the woman, and, maddened it may 
be by hunger, was resolved to attack her. As 
he hastened on he became more thoroughly 
convinced of this, as he observed how like a 
great sleuthhound it glided along in the 



144 OOWIKAPUN. ^ 

snowshod tracks before them. Quickly did 
Oowikapun prepare for action. His trusty 
gun was loaded with ball. His knife and ax 
were so fastened in his belt that they were 
ready for instant use if needed. The strap of 
his sled was dropped from his shoulders, and 
thus disencumbered — with ill a hunter's excite- 
ment in such a position increased by the 
thought that perhaps it was Astumastao who 
was in such danger — he glided along silently, 
cautiously, and rapidly. Indian trails are very 
crooked, and so it was that he only now and 
then caught a glimpse of the bloodthirsty 
brute ; but when he did, he observed it was 
intent on its one purpose, as it hardly turned 
its head to the right or the left as it crouched 
or bounded along. Soon, however, the trail 
led from the open forest, where the trees were 
not clustered together very clo'-ely, into a 
dense, gloomy place of venerable old trees, 
whose great limbs stretched and intertwined 
with each other for quite a distance. This 
v/as the same gloomy part of the forest into 
which we had seen Astumastao go as she was 
returning with her heavy load of game. 



The Rescue. 



MS 



When Oowikapun reached the entrance to 
this part of the trail, he was surprised to 
notice the sudden disappearance of the tracks 
of the catamount. Rapidly did his eye scan 
every spot within jumping distance, and still 
not a vestige of a footstep was visible. How- 
ever, he was not to be deceived, but, knowing 
the habits of these animals, he carefully ex- 
amined the trunks of the trees close at hand, 
and on one of them he found the marks of 
the creature's claws, as it had sprung from the 
trail into it. This discovery, while it added 
to the excitement of Oowikapun, caused him 
to be, if possible, more alert and cautious, as 
he rapidly and silently moved along. These 
animals can climb trees like squirrels, and 
glide along from branch to branch with amaz- 
ing celerity where the trees are large. They 
seem to prefer to make their attack by spring- 
ing upon their victims from a tree rather 
*:han from the ground, as their aim is, if pos- 
sible, to seize them by the throat. Oowikapun 
was aware of this, and it added to his 
anxiety. 

Once or twice he caught sight of the 



Vs 



146 



OOWIXAPUN. 



creature as, like a South American puma, it 
glided along from tree to tree. Soon he saw 
it pause for an instant, and become greatly 
agitated, and apparently quiver vith excite- 
ment. It was still a long she : from him, as 
he had only a smooth-bore, flintlock gun. The 
temptation to fire was great, but, wishing to 
be sure of his aim, he resolved to follow on, 
and get so near that no second ball would be 
needed. On again glided the beast, and was 
soon lost to view, while Oowikapun followed 
as rapidly as he thought it was best in the 
crooked trail, when suddenly he heard the 
wild shriek that seemed to tell of the triumph 
of the savage beast. As he dashed on, a 
sharp turn in the trail showed him the blood- 
thirsty brute tearing at the back of a prostrate 
woman, upon whom he had sprung from the 
tree, thus dashing her to the ground. 

With all an Indian's coolness and presence 
of mind, Oowikapun knew that, while he 
must act quickly, he must also guard against 
accidently injuring the woman, and so, raising 
his gun in position, he shouted the Indian 
word for '* keep still," and as the fierce brute 





■ 


• 




( 




' -. ., ~ ;- 





1 







Head of the Catamount. 






.l^v 






The Rescue. 



149 



raised his head at the unexpected sound, the 
bullet went crashing through his brain, and he 
fell dead as a stone. 

To rush forward and find out who the 
woman was he had rescued, and the extent of 
her wounds, was but the work of an instant. 
And that instant was all the woman required 
to spring up and see who it was that she had 
to thank for her sudden deliverance from 
such a terrible death. 

Thus face to face they met again — Oowika- 
pun and Astumastao. Reaching out her 
hand, while her bright eyes spoke more elo- 
quently than her words, she said, " I am very 
thankful for your coming and for my speedy 
rescue ; and not less so," she added, " when I 
see it has been by Oowikapun." 

" Oowikapun is glad to be of any service to 
Astumastao," he said, as he took the proffered 
hand and held it, while he added, " But you 
are not badly wounded ? " 

" Only in my arm do I feel hurt," she replied. 

On inspection it was found that the wounds 
there were made by the claws and not by the 
teeth, and so did not appear serious. 



s\ 



ISO 



OOWIKAPUN. 



As these very practical young people dis- 
cussed the attack and escape, it was unani- 
mously agreed that it was fortunate for As- 
tumastao that she had the heavy load of 
rabbits on her back and several brace of par- 
tridges about her neck. So when the brute 
sprang upon her, with the exception of wound- 
ing her arm, he had only plunged his teeth 
and claws into the game. 

We need not here go into the particulars of 
all the beautiful things which were said by 
these two interesting young people. Human 
nature is about the same the world over. This 
is not a romantic love story, even if it turns 
out to be a lovely story. Suffice it here to 
say that at first a fire was kindled and the 
wounded arm was dressed and bandaged. 
Some balsam from the trees was easily 
obtained by Oowikapun for the purpose, and 
a warm wrapping of rabbit skins taken from 
the newly caught animals sufficed to keep the 
cold from the wounds. These prompt and 
thorough Indian methods for curing wounds 
were most successful, and in a few days they 
were completely healed. When the dressing 



( 



' l:-i 



1 ' 



The Rescue. 



151 



I: I 



of the arm was attended to, Oowikapun returned 
for his sled, which he had left at the spot where 
he first caught sight of the catamount, while 
Astumastao busied herself with cooking some 
of the game which she had caught, and which 
she had about ready when he returned. 

Perhaps some of my fastidious readers 
would not have cared much for a simple meal 
thus prepared, and eaten without the use of 
plates or forks; but there are others who 
have dined in this way, and the remembrance 
of such meals, with the glorious appetite of 
forest or mountain air, is to them a delicious 
memory. This one at any rate was very much 
enjoyed by these young people. When it was 
over Oowikapun quickly skinned the cata- 
mount, and, leaving the head attached to the 
skin, he placed it on his sled that it might be 
shown to the villagers when they arrived. 
The body he left behind as worthless, as it is 
never eaten by the Indians, although they are 
fond of the wild cat, and some other carnivo- 
rous animals. Astumastao's load of game was 
also placed upon .his sled, and then together 
they resumed their journey to the village. 



km 






'^- ' y 



152 



OOWIKAPUN. 



Great was the excitement among the 
people when the story became known, and in 
their Indian way they at once promoted 
Oowikapun to the ranks of the great 
"braves." He was considered quite a hero 
and made welcome in all of the wigwams he 
chose to visit. The aunt of Astumastao wel- 
comed him most cordially, and, kissing him 
again and again, called him her son, while she 
thanked him most gratefully for his noble 
deed. Gladly accepting her invitation, he re- 
peated his visits to her wigwam as often as 
Indian etiquette would sanction. 

One day, when only the three were present, 
Oowikapun, who had heard from some of the 
people of the heroic way in which Astumastao 
had rescued her Uncle Kistayimoowin from a 
watery grave, asked her to tell him the story. 

As a general thing among the Indians, but 
little reference is made to the dead. The 
whole thing to them, without any light to il- 
lumine the valley of the shadow of death, is so 
dreadful that they do not mention the word 
death. When obliged to speak of those who 
have gone they say, " Non-pimatissit," which 






The Rescue. 



153 



means, " He is not among the living." How- 
ever, Astumastao and her aunt had none of 
these fooHsh notions, especially as, since the 
sad event, the aunt had eagerly drunk in all 
the information she could get from her niece, 
who now had none in the wigwam to crush 
her song or quiet her speech. 

As Astumastao had a double object in 
view, she willingly, at the request of her 
aunt, described the scene as we have already 
done. She dwelt fully upon Kistayimoowin 
calling for her to sing, and his longing to 
learn all he could about the name of Jesus. 
The recital produced a deep impression upon 
Oowikapun, and brought up all the memories 
of his own darkness and mental disquietude, 
while, month after month, he had been grop- 
ing along in his vain attempts to find soul- 
happiness. 

During this interview she told him how she 
and her aunt had tried ever since her uncle's 
death to live in the way of the book of 
heaven ; but that they knew so little, and 
there were so many mysteries and perplexities 
all around them, that they were at times 



\ 



■ 






OOWIKAPUN. 



much discouraged. Yet there was one thing 
that they had resolved upon, and that was 
never to go back to the old pagan religion of 
their forefathers, for they were happier in 
their minds now, with the glimmering light of 
the white man's way, than ever they had been 
in their lives before. 

Oowikapun listened and was encouraged. 
He told them fully of his own troubles, for he 
felt he had for the first time sympathetic 
listeners. When he described his various 
methods to get peace ?nd quiet from his fears 
and anxieties, and referred to the ceremony of 
torture through which he had gone, Astumas- 
tao's eyes seemed to flash at first with indig- 
nation, and then to fill up with tears. Strong 
words seemed about to come from her lips, 
but with an effort she controlled herself, and 
remained quiet. 

Very frequently did Oowikapun find his 
way to the wigwam where dwelt these two 
women, and doubtless many were the things 
about which they talked. . 

For a time he visited the snares and traps 
and brought in the game. One day he re- 



The Rescue. 



/. f " 



ns 



turned with the splendid black fox which As- 
tumastao had tried so hard to capture. For 
this they gratefully thanked him, as well as 
for the great, tawny skin of the catamount, 
which he had carefully prepared as a splendid 
rug, and spread out for them in their wig- 
wam. 

The wounded arm was now completely 
healed, and the business which Oowikapun 
had used as his excuse for coming to the 
village was long ago arranged, still he lingered. 




h 



»j« 



OOWIKAPUN. 



CHAPTER XII. 
A Noble Ambition. 

|"" """"" "';0 the villagers the cause was evident, 
i T^ j but why there should beany trouble 
I I or delay in his courtship they 

could not make out. Of course he 
would take Astumastao's aunt to live with 
them, and therefore there was no price to pay 
for the maiden. So quickly and promptly do 
they generally attend to these things, that, 
when matters have gone between their young 
folks as they evidently imagined they had be- 
tween these two, a decision one way or 
another is quickly reached. 

These simple people do not believe in long 
courtships. So they began to wonder and 
conjecture why this matter was not settled be- 
tween them. They were nearly all favorably 
inclined toward Oowikapun, and were pleased 
at the prospect of his marrying a maiden of 
their village. Even some of the young men 
who had hoped to have won her, when they 




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-v.- 'V'. 



A Noble Ambition. 



159 



heard the story of her wonderful deliverance 
by this fine young hunter of another village, 
and observed how evident it was that he had 
set his heart upon her, retired from the field, 
saying that Oowikapun's claims to her were 
greater than theirs, and that for themselves 
they must look elsewhere. 

But strange to say, while Astumastao's eyes 
brightened when Oowikapun entered the wig- 
wam, and her welcome was always kindly, yet 
she skillfully changed the conversation when it 
seemed to be leading toward the tender senti- 
ment, and parried with seeming unconscious- 
ness all reference to marriage. And being, as 
women are, more skillful and quick-witted than 
men, she, for some reason or other, would 
never let him see that she appeared to think 
of him as a suitor for her hand and heart, and 
by her tact, for some reason unaccountable to 
him, kept him from saying what was in his 
heirt. And yet she was no mere coquette or 
heartless flirt. In her great, loving heart was 
a purpose noble and firm, and a resolve so 
high that, for the present at least, all other 
sentiments and feelings must hold a subordi- 



w 



i 



•^iipp 



\- 



1 60 



OOWIKAPUN. 






nate place. And so, while she did not repel 
him, or offend his sensitive spirit, she, in some 
way which he could not exactly define, made 
him feel that he must defer the thing to him 
so important, and talk on other subjects. 
There was one theme on which she was always 
eager to talk and to get him to talk, and to 
her it never grew stale or threadbare. It was 
about what he and she had learned or could 
remember of the book of heaven, and the good 
white man's way. 

She sang her hymns to him, and called up 
all the memories possible of that happy year 
in childhood which she had spent in the home 
of the missionary. She made him tell her over 
and over again all he could remember of Me- 
motas and Meyooachimoowin, and as well as 
she could, in her quiet way, let him see how 
solicitous she was that he should try to find 
out how to get into this way, which she said, 
she was sure was the right woy and the one in 
which he could find that soul comfort for 
which he had been so long seeking. 

Oowikapun was thankful for all this kindness, 
and was very happy in her presence, but was 






A Noble Ambition. 



i6i 



all the time getting more deeply in love with 
her, and while anxious to learn all he could 
from her, had come to the sage conclusion that 
if she would only marry him he could learn so 
much the faster. 

It is said " that all things come to him who 
waits," and so the opportunity which our In- 
dian friend had so long desired came to him. 
Astumastao had been telling him one day 
when they were alone of the persecutions and 
oppositions she had met with from her uncle 
Koosapatum, the conjurer, and from others, 
and then stated how hard it was for her alone 
to remember about the good Book, and live up 
to its lessons. Then she added, if there had 
only been some one among the people who 
knew more than she did to stand firm with 
her, they might have helped each other along 
and been so firm and brave. 

When she had finished Oowikapun saw his 
opportunity, and was quick enough in availing 
himself of it. He replied by deeply sym- 
pathizing with her, and then, referring to his 
own difficulties and failures in the past, stated 
how fearful he was of the future, unless he had 



l62 



OOWIKAPUN. 



/ 



some true, brave friend to help him along. 
Then, suddenly facing her, in strong and lov- 
ing words he begged and urged her to be his 
teacher and helper, his counselor, his wife. 

So quickly had the conversation changed, 
and so suddenly had come this declaration, 
that Astumastao was thrown off her guard and 
more deeply agitated than we have ever seen 
her before. However, she soon regained her 
composure, and replied to him — not unkindly, 
but candidly and unmistakably — that she was 
very sorry he had made such a request, as she 
had set her heart upon the accomplishment of 
some work which perhaps would make it im- 
possible for her to think of marriage for years 
to come. 

Vainly he urged his suit, but most firmly 
she resisted ; and with only the .satisfaction of 
getting from her the information that at some 
future interview she would tell him of the 
great object she had set her heart upon, he 
had to leave the wigwam, feeling that his 
chances of winning Astumastao were not quite 
so bright as he had vainly imagined. 

Oowikapun, as we may well suppose, was 



/ t 



A Noble Ambition. 



163 



very anxious to know the reasons which had 
so strong a hold upon Astumastao as to cause 
her thus to act ; and, so soon as Indian eti- 
quette would allow another visit to her wig- 
wam, he was not absent. 

When some Indian maidens, who had been 
learning from Astumastao some new designs 
in beadwork, at which she was very skillful, had 
retired, and the two young people and the 
aunt were now left alone, she, in her clear, 
straightforward manner, told what was upper- 
most in her heart. It was of a purpose which 
had been growing there for years, but which 
she had only seen the possibility of carrying 
out since her uncle's death. She said she be^ 
lieved they ought to have a missionary to 
teach them the truths in the book of heaven. 
Pe-pe-qua-napuay, the new chief, was not un- 
friendly, as he had himself declared that he 
had lost faith in the old pagan way ; and 
Koosapatum, the conjurer, had lost his power 
over the young men, who now feared not his 
threats ; and at Tapastanum, the old medicine 
man, they even laughed when he threatened 
them. So she had resolved to go all the way 



164 



OOWIKAPUN. 



to Norway House, to plead with the mission- 
ary there to send away to the land of mission- 
aries, and get one to come and live among 
them and be their teacher of this right way, as 
described in the book of heaven. She knew it 
was far away, and her hands and arms would 
often get weary with paddling many days, and 
her feet would get sore, and perhaps the moc- 
casins would wear out in the portages where 
the stones were sharp and the rocks many. 
But they had talked it all over, and they had 
resolved to go. Two women were to go with 
her. One, who was a widow, was to be the 
guide. She had gone over the way years ago, 
with her husband, and thought that she could 
remember the trail. The other was a young 
woman, the companion of Astumastao, who 
from being so much with her had learned 
what she knew, and so longed for more instruc- 
tion that she was willing to go on the long 
journey, hard and dangerous though it was. 
These two women, she said, were anxious to 
go with her. They were sick of the way they 
were living, and longed for the better life and 
a knowledge of what was beyond. 



\ 



A Noble Ambition. 



i6S 



They had been making their preparations 
for a long time, she said. A friendly family 
would keep the aunt in her absence and look- 
after her little wigwam. They had been mak- 
ing beadwork and some other things to sell at 
Norway House, so that they would not be 
dependent upon the friends there while they 
pleaded for a missionary. 

Thus talked this noble girl, and, as she went 
on and described the blessing that would 
come to her people if she should succeed, she 
became so fired with this noble resolve which 
had taken such complete possession of her 
that poor Oowikapun, while more and more in 
love with her, felt himself, while under the 
witchery of her impassioned words, verily 
guilty in having dared to make a proposal of 
marriage which would in any way thwart a 
purpose so noble, and which might be followed 
by such blessed results. 

And yet, when alone and in cool blood, 
Oowikapun pondered over the nature of the 
task she had decided to undertake, and 
thought of the perils and difficulties in the 
way to which she and her companions would 



i iU 






i66 



OOWIKAPUN. 



/ 



I 



be exposed, he resolved to try to persuade her 
to abandon the perilous undertaking. 

Patiently she listened to all he had to say, 
but she would not be persuaded to abandon 
this, on which her heart was so set. Seeing 
this, he tried to arrange some compromise or 
some other plan. First he asked her to marry 
him, and let him go along in place of the 
young Indian maiden, companion of Astu- 
mastao. This plan, which seemed so agree- 
able to Oowikapun, she quickly dismissed, 
saying that she did not intend to be married 
until she could be married in the beautiful 
Christian way she remembered having seen 
when a child, and by a Christian missionary. 

Failing in this scheme, Oowikapun suggested 
that he should select some strong young 
fellow, and that together they should set off as 
soon as the ice disappeared from the rivers, 
and present her request. 

To this Astumastao replied, and there was 
a little tinge of banter, if not of sarcasm, as 
well as a good deal of seriousness in her voice : 
"And suppose, in one of the Indian villages 
through which you might pass, a sun or ghost 



, i->- 



A Noble Ambition. 



167 



dance, or even the ceremony of the devil 
worship or dog feast might be going on, who 
knows but you might be persuaded to jump 
into the magic circle and dance yourself sense- 
less? Or if you did not succeed, might you 
not in your discouragement go off again to the 
tortures and miseries of hock-e-a-yum f " 

These words made him wince, but he could 
only feel that they were true, and that he de- 
served them all ; and he felt that, until he did 
something to redeem himself in the eyes of 
this brave, true woman, he was only worthy of 
her reproofs. 

Seeing that her words had so hurt him, this 
generous-hearted girl, who, while grieved at 
the failures he had made, could also appreci- 
ate his noble qualities and sympathize with 
him in his struggles for the light, quickly 
turned the conversation, and then, as though 
making a confidant of him, told htm of all the 
plans of their contemplated journey, which 
was to begin just as soon as the spring 
opened, as they supposed it would take them 
all the season of open water in their lakes and 
rivers to go and return. Then she added: 



\, 






W 



\ 



i68 



OOWIKAPUN. 



" And shall I not be happy when again I see 
the spire of that house of prayer at Norway 
House ? And if I can only succeed in get- 
ting the promise of a missionary to come and 
dwell among our oeople I shall forget all the 
dangers and hardship of the trip." 

One day, while Oowikapun was pondering 
over the words of Astumastao, and thinking of 
the risks she and her companions were about 
to run, and the dang, ; they would have to 
encounter in their great undertaking, and con- 
trasting it with the listless, aimless life he had 
lately been leading, suddenly there came to 
him, as a revelation, a noble resolve which took 
such possession of him and so inspired him 
that he appeared and acted like another man. 

To carry it out was quickly decided upon, 
and so, letting no one know of his purpose, 
he very early, one crisp, wintry morning, tied 
his little traveling outfit, with his ax and gun, 
upon his sled, and, without saying " Good- 
bye " to anyone, even to Astumastao, secretly 
left the village. X 

There were many surmises among the people 
when it was known that he was gone. Many 



.^v 



> > 



't = I: 



A Noble Ambition. 



169 



conjectures were made, and when some hunters 
returned along the trail which led to his own 
village, and reported that the tracks of his sled 
and snowshoes were not seen in that direction, 
they were all the more surprised ; and it was a 
long time ere they had any hint of where he 
had gone or the cause which had taken him 
away. 



.■^.- 



170 



OOWIKAPUN. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
The Sudden Disappearance. 

r 

' ^H E mysterious disappearance 



IT 



! 



liiaiia'iaiiBMaiii 



of 



Oowikapun from the village of his 
friends caused a good deal of excite- 
ment and innocent gossip. That he 
was deeply in love with Astumastao was evi- 
dent to all, and while she did not allow even 
her most intimate friends to hear her say that 
she intended to marry him, yet her conduct 
very plainly indicated that he stood higher than 
anyone else in her esteem. That she had posi- 
tively rejected him none of them could believe. 
Why then had he thus shown the white feather, 
and so ignominiously and so suddenly left the 
field when it seemed so evident that a little 
more perseverance would have surely resulted 
in his success. In this way the young men 
and maidens of the village talked, while the 
old men gravely smoked the calumets and 
mourned that the times were so changed that 
a young brave should have so much trouble in 
capturing a squaw. 



The Sudden Disappearance. 171 

When Astumastao was informed of the sud- 
den disappearance of Oowikapun she was 
troubled and perplexed. Not the slightest 
hint had he given her of his intended move- 
ments when, like a flash, there had come to 
him the great resolve to be the one who should 
go on the long journey to find the missionary. 
She was a maiden, not beautiful, but she was a 
comely Indian girl, attractive and clever in her 
way, and she well knew that many a young 
hunter had sat down beside her wigwam door 
or had dropped the shining, white pebble before 
her in the path, thus plainly intimating his 
desire to win her notice and esteem. But to 
all of them she had turned a deaf ear, and had 
treated them, without exception, with perfect 
indifference. As shy and timid as a young 
fawn of the forest, she had lived under the 
watchful and somewhat jealous care of her 
uncle and aunt, until Oowikapun had appeared 
in the village. 

His coming, however, and his reference to 
Memotas had strangely broken the quiet 
monotony of years. Then what she had done 
for him in the wigwam, their conversation in 



» 



Bm 



172 



OOWIKAPUN. V. 



the trail, and above all, his gallant rescue of 
her from the terrible catamount, had aroused 
new emotions within her and opened up her 
mind to a wider vision, until now she saw that 
she was no longer the young free Indian girl 
with no thoughts but those of her childhood, 
but a woman who must now act and decide for 
herself. But with the characteristic reserve of 
her people she kept all the newborn emotions 
and aspirations hid in her heart. 

The power to control the feelings and 
passions among the Indians is not confined to 
th^ sterner sex. Schooled in a life of hard- 
ship, the women as well as the men can put on 
the mask of apparent indifference, while at the 
same time the heart is racked by intensest 
feeling, or the body is suffering most horrid tor- 
ture. Death in its most dreadful form may 
be fitnring them in the face, and yet the ont 
sider may look in vain for the blanching 
of the cheek, or the quivering of a muscle. 
Very early in life does this stern education 
begin. ^ 

♦'That is my best child," said an Indian 
father, as he pointed out an apparently happy 



' } 



The Sudden Disappearance. 173 

little girl seven or eight years old, in his 
wigwam. 

" Why should she be your favorite child ? " 
was asked him. 

" Why? liicause she, of all my children, will 
go the longest without food, without crying," 
was his answer. 

To suffer, but to show no sign, is the proverb 
of the true Indian. And yet Astumastao 
would not admit even to herself that she was 
deeply in love with Oowikapun. She had 
treasured the fond conceit in her heart that 
the one all-absorbing passion with her was that 
which she had freely revealed to him, and she 
in her simplicity had honestly believed that no 
other love could take its place, or even share 

m 

the room in her heart. 

But here was a rude awakening. She was a 
mystery to herself. Why these sighs and tears 
when she was alone and unwatched by her 
bright-eyed, alert young associates ? Why did 
the image of this one young Indian hunter in- 
trude itself so persistently before her in her wak- 
ing hours? It is true he camr not frequently 

to her in her dreams, for we dream but little 
12 



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i 



0t 



I, 



I ; 



H 



/ 






174 



OOWIKAPUN. 



of those we love the most, and who are in our 
memories and on our hearts continually dur- 
ing the waking hours of active life. 

Untdught in the schools and free from all 
the guiles of heartless coquetry, an orphan girl 
in an Indian village, with neither prudery on 
the one hand, nor hothouse teachings on the 
other, which turn the heads of so many girls, 
Astumastao was to herself a riddle which she 
could not solve — a problem the most difficult 
of any she had tried to understand. 

Her maidenly modesty seemed first to tell her 
to banish his image from her heart, and his name 
from her lips. To accomplish this she threw 
herself with renewed diligence into the duties 
incident to her simple yet laborious life, and 
by her very activities endeavored to bring her- 
self back to the sweet simplicities of her earlier 
days. But fruitless were all her efforts. The 
heart transfixed, was too strong for her head, 
and the new love which had so unconsciously 
come to her would not be stilled or banished. 

of Eve was this forest 



A true daughter of Eve 
maiden, even if she did live i 



had never read a novel or a 



I wigwam, and 
romance, and be- 



The Sudden Disappearance. 



175 



cause she had these feelings and was passing 
through these hours of disquietude and con- 
flicting emotions we think none the less of 
her. Our only regret is that she had no wise, 
judicious friend of her own sex to whom in her 
perplexity she could have gone for wise and 
prudent counsel. Happy are those daughters 
in civilized lands who have their precious 
mothers or other safe counselors to whom they 
can go in these critical hours of their history, 
when their future weal or woe may turn 
upon the decisions then made. And happy 
are those fair maidens who, instead of impul- 
sively and recklessly rejecting all counsel and 
warning from their truest friends, listen to the 
voice of experience and parental love, and 
above all, seek aid from the infinitely loving 
One who has said : " If any of you lack wisdom, 
let him ask of God, that giveth to all men lib- 
erally, and upbraide<-b not ; and it shall be given 
him." 

Astumastao unfortunately had no one to 
whom she could go in her perplexity. Her 
feeble aunt had been a purchased wife, bought 
in the long ago by her husband whom she had 



4 

1 



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II 




\ 



,\ , 



176 



OOWIKAPUN. 



/ 



never seen until the day when he had come 
from a distant village, and being impressed 
with her appearance, for she was then a fine- 
looking young woman, had quickly spread out 
at her father's feet all the gifts he demanded 
for her. His first words to her were to inform 
her that she was his wife, and that very 
shortly they would set out for his distant 
home. Crushed out of her heart were some 
feelings of affection for a handsome young 
hunter who had several times met her on the 
trail, as she was accustomed to go to the 
bubbling spring in the shady dell for water for 
her father's wigwam. Few indeed had been 
his words, but his looks had been bright and 
full of meaning, and he had let her know that 
he was gathering up the gifts that would pur- 
chase her from her stern, avaricious father. But, 
alas ! her dreams and hopes had been blasted, 
and her heart crushed by this old pagan cus- 
tom, and so for long years she had lived the 
dreary, monotonous life to which wc have re- 
ferred. Such a woman could give no advice 
that would be of much service to such an 
alert, thoughtful girl as Astumastao, and so, 



The Sudden Disappearance. 



177 



unaided and undisciplined, she let her thoughts 
drift and her heart become the seat of emo- 
tions and feelings most diverse. Sometimes 
she bitterly upbraided herself for her coldness 
and indifference to Oowikapun as she thought 
of his many noble qualities. Then again she 
would marshal before her his weaknesses and 
defects, and would vainly try to persuade her- 
self to believe that the man who had been in 
the tent of Memotas and had heard him pray, 
and had then gone into the devil dance and 
had voluntarily suffered the tortures of hock- 
e-a-yuMy was unworthy of her notice. Then 
suddenly, as the memory of what he must have 
suffered in those terrible ordeals came before 
her, her bright eyes would fill with tears, and 
she found herself impulsively longing for the 
opportunity to drive the recollection of such 
suffering from her mind and heart, and to be 
the one to save him from their repetition. 
Amid these conflicting emotions there was 
one thought that kept coming up in her mind 
and giving her much trouble, and that was, 
"Why had he left so abruptly? Why did he 
not at least come and say ' Good-bye ? * or why 



II 



ll.i 



BH 



178 



OOWIKAPUN. 



! 

I 



had he not left at least some little message for 
her?" 

Over these queries she pondered, and they 
were more than once thrown at her by the 
young Indian maidens, as with them she was 
skillfully decorating with beads some snow- 
white moccasins she had made. 

Thus pondered Astumastao through the 
long weeks that were passing by since Oowi- 
kapun left her, while he, brave fellow, little 
dreaming that such conflicting feelings were 
in her heart, was putting his life in jeopardy, 
and enduring hardships innumerable, to save 
and benefit the one who had become dearer to 
him than life itself. 

Thus the time rolled on, and all her efforts 
to banish him from her mind proved failures, 
and it came to pass that, like the true, noble 
girl that she was, she could only think of 
that which was brave and good about him, and 
so when some startling rumors of a delightful 
character began to be circulated among the 
wigwams, our heroine, Astumastao, without 
knowing the reason why, at once associated 
them with Oowikapuii. News travels rapidly 



The Sudden Disappearance. 



179 



sometimes, even in the lands where telegraphs 
and express trains are unknown. It does not 
always require the well-appointed mail service 
to carry the news rapidly through the land. 

During the terrible civil war in the United 
States there was among the Negroes of the 
South what was known as the grapevine telegra- 
phy, by which the colored people in remote sec- 
tions often had news of success, or disaster to 
the army of " Uncle Abraham," as they loved to 
call President Lincoln, long before the whites 
had any knowledge of what had occurred. 

So it was among the Indian tribes. In some 
mysterious, and to the whites, most unaccount- 
able way, the news of success or disaster was 
carried hundreds of miles in a marvelously 
short period of time. For example, the de- 
feat and death of General Custer at the battle 
of the Rosebud was known among the Siouy 
Indians, near St. Paul, for several hours before 
the military authorities at the same place had 
any knowledge of it, although the whites were 
able to communicate more than half of the 
way with each other by telegraph. An inter- 
esting subject this might prove for some one 






('/ 



1 



i8o 



OOWIKAPUN. 



who had time and patience to give it a 
thorough investigation. 

The rumors of coming blessings to the 
people kept increasing. At length they as- 
sumed a form so tangible that the people be- 
gan to understand what was meant. It seemed 
that some hunters met some other hunters in 
their far-off wanderings, who had come across 
a party of Norway House Christian Indians, 
who informed them that a visit might be soon 
expected from the white man with the great 
book, about which there had been so many 
strange things circulating for such a long time. 
\\ hen Astumastao heard these rumors she was 
excited and perplexed. While hoping most 
sincerely that they were true, and would 
speedily be fulfilled, yet she could not but feel 
that she would have rejoiced to have been 
able to have made the long journey, for which 
she had been so industriously preparing, and 
have had something to do in bringing the mis- 
sionary and the book among her own people. 
And then she let her thoughts go to some one 
else, and she said to herself, " I will rejoice if 
it turns out to be the work of Oowikapun." 



■■w, 



/ 




*/ 



: x ■'■ 




\ ■ 



In Need of a Missionary. 



183 



CHAPTER XIV. 

In Need of a Missionary* 

I "jHE success which has attended the 

I T^ I efforts of the missionaries in preach- 
1 I ing the Gospel among the most 

northern tribes of Indians has been 
very encouraging. For a long time they had 
been dissatisfied with their old paganism. They 
had in a measure become convinced that their 
religious teachers, their medicine men, and 
conjurers, were impostors and liars, and so, 
whiU' submitting somewhat to their sway, 
were yet chifing under it. When the first 
missionaries arrived among them they were 
soon convinced that they were their true 
friends. Not only were they men of saintly 
lives and pure characters, but they were men 
who practically sympathized with the people, 
and to the full measure of their ability, and 
often beyond, they helped the sick and suffer- 
ing ones, and more than once divided their 
last meal with the poor, hungry creatures v 10 



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OOWIKAPUN. 



came to them in their hours of direst need. 
The result was that the people were so con- 
vinced of the genuineness of these messengers 
of peace and good will, that large numbers of 
them gladly accepted the truth and beer le 
loving Christians. 

The story of the founding of these missions 
went far and wide throughout all these north- 
ern regions, and at many a distant camp fire, 
and in many a wigwam hundreds of miles 
away, the red men talked of the white man 
and his book of heaven. 

Occasionally some of these hunters or trap- 
pers, from these still remote pagan districts of 
their great hunting grounds, would meet with 
some of the Christian hunters from the mis- 
sions, and from them would learn something 
of the great salvation revealed in the book of 
heaven, and they would return more dissatis- 
fied than ever with their old, sinful, pagan 
ways 

Then it sometimes happened that a mis- 
sionary, full of zeal for his Master, and of 
sympathy for these poor, neglected souls in 
the wilderness, would undertake long journeys 



■ *vl(.. 



I 






In Need jf a Missionary. 



i8s 



il 



VI 



into their country to preach to them this great 
salvation. Many were the hardships and 
dangers of those trips, which were often of 
many weeks' duration. They were made in 
summer in a birch canoe with a couple of 
noble Christian Indians, who were not only 
able skillfully to paddle the canoe, and guide 
it safely down the swift, dangerous rapids, and 
carry it across the portages, but also be of 
great help to the missionary in spreading the 
Gospel by telling of their own conversion, and 
of the joy and happiness which had come to 
them through the hearty acceptance of this 
way. 

In winter the missionaries could only make 
these long journeys by traveling with dogs, 
accompanied by a faithful guide and some 
clever dog drivers. Sometimes they traveled 
for three hundred miles through the cold 
forests or over the great frozen lakes for many 
days together without seeing a house. When 
night overtook them, they dug a hole in the 
snow, and there they slept or shivered as best 
they could. Their food was fat meat, and 
they fed their dogs on fish. The cold was so 



i86 



OOWIKAPUN. 



terrible that sometimes every part of their 
faces exposed to the dreadful cold was frozen. 
Once one of the missionaries froze his nose 
and ears in bed! Often the temperature 
ranged from forty to sixty degrees below zero. 
It was perhaps the hardest mission field 
in the world, as regards the physical suf- 
ferings and privations endured ; but, fired by a 
noble ambition to preach the Gospel " in the 
region beyond," these men of God considered 
no sufferings too severe, or difficulties insur- 
mountable, if only they could succeed. They 
were among those of whom it is said : 

" Fired with a zeal peculiar, they defy 
The rage and rigor of a northern sky, i 

And plant successfully sweet Sharon's rose 
On icy fields amidst eternal snows." 

Wherever they could gather the wandering 
Indians together, even in little companies, for 
religious worship they did so. On the banks 
of the lakes or rivers, in the forests, at their 
camp fires, or in their wigwams, they ceased 
not to speak and to preach Jesus. The result 
was, a spirit of inquiry was abroad, and so, in 
spite of the old conjurers and medicine men. 



••f 



\\ 



■ t'\' 



In Need of a Missionary. 



/^' 



187 



'Sir 



\S 



'(■■ I. 



who were determined, if possible, not to lose 
their grip upon them, there was a longing to 
know more and more about this better way. 

Norway House Mission was the spot to 
which many eyes were directed, and to which 
deputations asking for missionary help often 
came. It was the largest and most flourishing 
of those northern missions, and for years had 
its own printing press and successful schools. 

Very pathetic and thrilling were some of the 
scenes in connection with some of these im- 
portunate Indian deputations, who came from 
remote regions to plead with the resident mis- 
sionary that they might have one of their own, 
to live among them and help them along in 
the right way. 

One deputation, consisting of old men, came 
year after year, and when still refused each 
successive year, because there was none to 
volunteer for a life so full of hardships, and no 
money in the missionary treasury, even if a 
man could be found, became nlled with de- 
spair, and even bitterness, and said : " Surely 
then the white men do not, as they say, con- 
sider us as their brothers, or they would not 



H 



i88 



OOWIKAPUN. 



leave us without the book of heaven and one 
of their members to show us the true way." 

Another old man, with bt>terness of soul and 
tremulousness of speech, when replying to tiie 
refusal of his request for a missionary for his 
people, said : " My eyes have grown dim with 
long watching, and my hair has grown gray 
while longing for a missionary." These im- 
portunate appeals, transmitted year after year 
to the missionary authorities, at length, in a 
measure, so aroused the Churches that more 
help was sent, but not before the toilers on the 
ground had almost killed themselves in the 
work. Vast indeed was the area of some of 
those mission fields, and wretched and toil- 
some were the methods of travel over them. 
George McDougall's mission was larger than 
all France ; Henry Steinhaur's was larger than 
Germany ; the one of which Norway House 
was the principal station was over five hun- 
dred miles long, and three hundred wide ; and 
there were others just as large. No wonder 
men quickly broke down and had soon to re- 
tire from such work. The prisoners in the 
jails and penitentiaries of the land live on 



Y 



'i.. 



m 



In Need of a Missionary. 189 

much better fare than did these heroic men 
and their famiHes. The great staple of the 
North was fish. Fish twenty-one times a week 
for six months, and not much else with it. 
Tnie, it was sometimes varied by a pot of 
boiled muskrat or a roasted leg of a wild cat. 

Yet, amid such hardships, which tried both 
sculs and bodies, they toiled on bravely and 
uncomplainingly, and, as far as possible, re- 
sponded to the pleading Macedonian calls that 
came to them for help, from the remote 
regions still farther beyond, and gladly wel- 
comed to their numbers the additional help- 
ers when they arrived. , . 

With only one of these deputations pleading 
for a missionary have we here to do. 

It was a cold, wintry morning. The fierce 
storms of that northern land were howling out- 
side, and the frost king seemed to be holding 
high carnival. Quickly and quietly was the 
door of the mission house opened, and in there 
came two Indians. One of them was our be- 
loved friend Memotas, who was warmly 
greeted by all, for he was a general favor- 
ite. The little children of the mission home. 
18 



ipo 



OOWIKAPUN. 



ill 



Sagastaookemou and Minnehaha, rushed into 
his arms and kissed his bronzed but beautiful 
face. When their noisy greetings were over, 
he introduced the stranger who was with him. 
He seemed to be about twenty-seven or 
twenty-eight years of age, and was a fine, 
handsome looking man ; in fact, an ideal In- 
dian of the forest. Very cordially was he 
welcomed, and Memotas said his name was 
Oowikapun. -^■.■-. ■ ■^^- .'■■:':. -^.r^ -r-^r,' '-r',>^ , 

■ Thus was our hero in the mission house, and 
ki the fwceSQnce of the first missionary he had 
eV<5r seett. J How had he reached this place? 
and what was the object of his coming? These 
<|u^&tions We will try to answer. 

The last glimpse we had of Oowikapun was 

■ when he was quietly speeding away from the 
far-ofif village where dwelt Astumastao, and, 
according to the hunters, returning not in the 
trail leading to his own village. His presence 
here in the mission house, hundreds of miles 
in the opposite direction, now explains to us 

i the way in which he must have traveled. 

From his own lips, long after, the story of 
his adventurous trip was told. 



I 



I 



In Need of a Missionary. 



ipi 



I 



Oowikapun said that, when he left Astu- 
mastao after that last interview in which he so 
completely failed to divert her from her de- 
termination to undertake, with the other 
women, the long, dangerous journey, and in 
which she had shown him how little he was 
to be depended upon, he went back to the 
wigwam of his friends feeling very uncomfort- 
able. His relatives had all gone off hunting 
or visiting, and so there he was alone in his 
tent. He kindled a fire, and by it he sat 
and tried to think over what had happened, 
and was full of regret at what Astumastao had 
resolved to do. While almost frightened at 
the dangers she was about to face, he could 
not but be proud of her spirit and courage. 

Then the thought came to him. What are 
you doing ? Is there not man enough in you 
to do this work, and save these women from 
such risks? Is it not as much for you as any- 
body else the missionary is needed ? Are you 
not about the most miserable one in the tribe ? 
Here is your opportunity to show what you 
can accomplish ; and, as Memotas was always 
doing the hard work for his wife, here is your 



■MB 



192 



OOWIKAPUN. 



chance to save from danger, and do the work 
that the one you are longing to call your wife 
is intending to do. 

"While I thought about it," said Oowika- 
pun, •* the thing took such hold upon me that 
it fairly made me tremble with excitement, 
and I resolved to set about it at once. So I 
very quickly gathered my few things together, 
and when all was still I left the village. Some 
falling snow covered up my snowshoe tracks 
and the little trail made by my sled, and so no 
one could tell in which direction I had gone. 

" I had many adventures. The snow was 
deep ; but I had my good snowshoes and 
plenty of ammunition, and, as there was con- 
siderable game, I managed very well. One 
night I had a supper of marrow bones, which I 
got hold of in a strange way. I was pushing 
along early in the forenoon when I heard a 
great noise of wolves not very far off. Quickly 
I unstrapped my gun 'ind prepared to defend 
myself if I should be attacked. Their bowl- 
ings so increased that I became convinced 
that they were so numerous that my 
safest plan was to get up in a tree as 



I 



11 



(i 



,t ' 



In Need of a Missionary. 



193 



■■/V:: 



I 



%■ 






quickly as possible. This I did, and then I 
drew up my sled beyond their reach. Not 
very long after I had succeeded in this, I saw 
a great moose deer plunging through the 
snow, followed by fierce gray wolves. He 
made the most desperate efforts to escape ; 
but, as they did not sink deeply in the snow, 
while he broke through at every plunge, they 
were too much for him, and although he badly 
injured some of them, yet they succeeded in 
pulling him down and devoured him. It was 
dreadful to see the way they snarled and 
fought with each other over the great body. 
They gorged themselves ere they went away, 
and left nothing but the great bones. When 
they had disappeared, I came down from the 
tree, in which I had been obliged to remain 
about six hours. I was nearly frozen, and so 
I quickly cut down some small dead trees and 
made up a good fire. I then gathered the 
large marrow bones from which the wolves had 
gnawed the meat, and, standing them up 
against a log close to the fire, I roasted them 
until the marrow inside was well cooked ; then, 
cracking them open with the back of my ax, 



'V.; 



'1. 



194 



OOWIKAPUN. 



/ 



I had a fa'mous supper upon what the wolves 
had left. 

" I had several other adventures," said Oowi- 
kapun ; '*■ but the most interesting of all, and 
the one most pleasing to me, was that I 
reached Beaver Lake in time to rescue an old 
man from being eaten by the wolves. His rela- 
tives were some very heartless people of the 
Salteaux tribe. They were making a long 
journey through the country to a distant hunt- 
ing ground, and because this old grandfather 
could not keep up in the trail, and food was 
not plentiful, they deliberately left him to per- 
ish. They acted in a very cruel and heartless ' 
way. They cut down and stuck some poles in 
the snow, and then over the top they threw 
a few pieces of birch bark. This in mockery 
they called his tent. Then seating him on a 
piece of a log in it, where he was exposed to 
view from every side, they left him without 
any fire or blankets, and gave him only a small 
quantity of dried meat in a birch dish which 
they call a rogan. There, when he had eaten 
this meat, he was expected to lie down and • 
die. <,{' I 



*. 



11 



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I 



• {t 



In Need of a Missionary. 



195 



" When I found him he was nearly dead 
with the cold. He had eaten his meat and 
was sitting there on the log brandishing his old 
tomahawk to keep off several wolves, who 
were patiently waiting until he would become 
wearied out, when they would spring in upon 
him and speedily devour him. So intent were 
they on watching him, that I was able to get 
up so close to them that I sent a bullet 
through two of them, killing them instantly. 
The others, frightened by the report of the 
gun, quickly rushed away. I cheered up the 
old man, and speedily made a fire and gave 
him some warm soup which I prepared. 

'•I had to stay there with him a day before 
he was strong enough to go on with me. I 
have succeeded in bringing him with me to 
Norway House by dragging him on my sled 
most of the way. I took him to the house of 
Memotas, where he was kindly treated and 
cared for, as are all who come under the roof 
of that blessed man." 



x 



LiMuji-Aj^mammaa 



196 



OOWIKAPUN. 



CHAPTER XV. 
The Missionary on his Journey. 

jOWIKAPUN, during the days and 

rj I weeks following, in his pleadings for 
I a missionary had a great helper in 
Memotas, who had become very 
much interested in him. This devoted man 
had often thought about the young wounded 
Indian who long ago had come to his hunting 
lodge, so far away, to be cured of the injuries 
inflicted by the savage wolf. 

Since his arrival, he had drawn from him 
many of the events that had occurred in his 
life since they had knelt down in the woods 
together. He had opened to Memotas his 
heart, and had told him of his feeble efforts to 
live the better life, and of his complete failure. 
He told him of Astumastao, and made the 
heart of Memotas and others glad, who 
remembered the little black-eyed maiden from 
the far North who had dwelt a year in the vil- 
lage. They all rejoiced to hear that she still 



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The Missionary on his Journey. 199 

treasured in her breast so much of the truth 
and was so anxious for a missionary. 

These were happy weeks for Oowikapun. 
Under the faithful instructions of Memotas he 
was being rapidly helped along in the way to 
a Christian life. Perplexities and mysteries 
were being cleared up, and light was driving 
the darkness and gloom out of his mind and 
heart. Frequently did the faithful missionary, 
who had also become much interested in him, 
have long conversations with him, giving him 
much assistance, as well as arranging for the 
comfort of the old Salteaux whom he had 
rescued from such a dreadful death. The plan 
of salvation by faith in the Lord Jesus was un- 
folded to Oowikapun, and the necessity of a 
firm and constant reliance upon God for help 
in times of need was so explained to him that 
he saw where his failures had been, because, in 
his own strength, he had tried to resist 
temptation, and thus had so sadly failed. 

The Sabbath services intensely interested 
him, and he took great delight in them. The 
Sunday school was a revelation to him, and he 
gladly accepted the invitation of Memotas, 



200 



OOWIKAPUN. 



and became an interested member of his class. 
He seemed to live in a new world, and when 
he contrasted what he had witnessed nearly 
all his days amid the darkness and evils of the 
pagan Indians with what he saw among this 
happy Christian people, instructed by the mis- 
sionaries out of the book of heaven, his dream 
came up vividly before him, and now it had a 
meaning as never before. Here, in this Chris- 
tian village, were the people of his own race 
whom he had seen in the bright and happy 
way, with Jesus as their guide, and the beauti- 
ful heaven beyond as their destination. 

As he studied them more and more, the 
more importunate and anxious he became to 
have the missionary of this station go and visit 
his people, and thus prepare the way for their 
own missionary when he should come to live 
among them. 

Oowikapun's anxiety for light, and his 
intense interest in everything that pertained 
to the progress of the people, and, above all, 
his resolve to succeed in getting the missionary, 
created a great deal of interest among the vil- 
lagers. With their usual open-hearted hospi- 



The Missionary on his Journey. 201 

tality, they invited him to their comfortable 
homes, and from many of them he learned 
much to help him along in the good way. 

So marvelously had Christianity lifted up 
and benefited the people that Oowikapun with 
his simple forest ways, at times felt keenly his 
ignorance as he contrasted his crude life with 
what he now witnessed. 

A genuine civilization following Christianity 
had come to many of these once degraded 
tribes, and now comfortable homes and large 
and happy family circles are to be found 
where not a generation ago all was dark and 
degraded, and the sweet word " home " was ut- 
terly unknown. 

The conversion of some of these Indians was 
very remarkable, and the recital of how they 
had come out of the darkness into the light 
was most helpful to him. 

When there is a disposition to surrender we 
are easily conquered, and such was the con- 
dition of mind in which was the missionary 
to whom Oowikapun had come with his ear- 
nest appeals. The decision to go was no 
sooner reached than the preparation began to 



202 



OOWIKAPUN. 



be made for the long journey, which would 
occupy at least a month. Four dog-trains 
had to be taken. A train consists of four 
dogs harnessed up in tandem style. The sleds 
are about ten feet long and sixteen inches 
wide. They are made of two oak boards, and 
are similar in construction, but much stronger 
than the sleds used on toboggan slides. 

There are various breeds of dogs used in 
that country, but the most common are the 
Eskimos. They are strong and hardy, and 
when well trained are capital fellows for their 
work; but beyond that they are incorrigible 
thieves and unmitigated nuisances. 

Other breeds have been introduced into the 
Country, such as the Saint Bernard and the 
Newfoundlands. These have all the good 
qualities of the Eskimos, and are happily free 
from their blemishes. Some few Scottish stag- 
hounds, and other dogs of the hound varieties, 
have been brought in by Hudson Bay officers 
and others ; but while they make very swift 
trains, they can only be used for short trips, as 
they are too tender to stand the bitter cold 
and exposure, or the long and difficult journeys, 






The Missionary on his Journey. 303 



i' 



often of many days' duration, through the wild 
and desolate regions. 

The various articles for the long journey 
were speedily gathered together and the 
sleds carefully packed. Preparing for such a 
journey is a very different thing from getting 
ready for a trip in a civilized land. Here the 
missionary and his Indian companions were 
going about three hundred miles into the 
wilderness, where they would not see a house 
or any kind of human habitation from the 
time they left their homes until they reached 
their destination. They would not see the 
least vestige of a road. 

They would make their own trail on snow- 
shoes all that distance, except when on the 
frozen lakes and rivers, where snowshoes would 
be exchanged for skates by some, while the 
others only used their moccasins. Every night, 
when the toilsome day's travel was over, they 
would have to sleep in the snow in their own 
bed, which they carried with them. Their 
meals they would cook at camp fires, which 
they would build when required, as they 
hurried along. So we can easily see that a 



^Fm 



304 



OOWIKAPUN. 



variety of things would have to be packed on 
the dog-sleds. Let us watch the old, experi- 
enced guide and the dog drivers as they at- 
tend to this work. 

The heaviest item of the load is the supply 
of fish for the dogs. As this trip is to be such 
a long one, each sled must carry over two 
hundredweight of fish. Then the food for the 
missionary and his Indians, which consists 
principally of fat meat, is the next heaviest 
item. Then there are the kettles, and axes, 
and dishes, and numerous robes and blankets 
and changes of clothing, and a number of other 
things, to be ready for every emergency or 
accident ; for they are going to live so isolated 
from the rest of the world that they must be 
entirely independent of it. One thing more 
they must not forget, and that is a liberal 
supply of dog shoes, and so on this trip they 
take over a hundred. 

In selecting his Indian companions, the 
missionary's first thought is for a suitable guide, 
as much depends on him. The one chosen for 
this trip was called Murdo, a very reliable 
man, who had come originally from Nelson 



' 



The Missionary on his Journey. 205 

River. Very clever and gifted are some of 
these Northern guides. Without the vestige 
of a track before them, and without, the mark 
of an ax upon a tree, or the least sign that 
ever human beings had passed that way before, 
they stride along on their big snowshoes day 
after day, without any hesitancy. The white 
man often gets so bewildered that he does 
not know east from west or north from south ; 
but the guide never hesitates, and is very 
seldom at fault. To them it makes no dif- 
ference whether the sun shines or clouds 
obscure the sky, or whether they journey by 
day or night. Sometimes it is necessary to 
do much of the traveling by night, on account 
of the reflection of the dazzling rays of the 
sun on the great, brilliant wastes of snow giv- 
ing the travelers a disease called snow-blind- 
ness, which is painful in the extreme. To 
guard against this, traveling is frequently done 
through the hours of night, and the sleep 
secured is during the hours of sunshine. 

Yet the experienced guide will lead on just 
as well by night as by day. To him it makes 

no difference what may be the character of the 
U 



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(I 



206 



OOWIKAPUN. 



night. Stars may shine, auroras may flash 
and scintillate, and the moon may throw her 
cold, silvery beams over the landscape, or 
clouds may gather and wintry storms rage 
and howl through the forest ; yet on and on 
will the guide go with unerring accuracy, 
leading to the desired camping ground. 

With this guide, three dog drivers, and 
Oowikapun, the missionary commenced his 
first journey to Nelson River. 

The contemplated trip had caused no little 
excitement, not only on account of its 
dangers, but also because it was the pioneer- 
ing trip for new evangelistic work among a 
people who had never seen a missionary or 
heard the name of Jesus. And so it was that, 
although the start was made very early in the 
morning, yet there were scores of Indians 
gathered to see the missionary and his party 
off, and to wish them " Godspeed " on their 
glorious work. 

The hasty farewells were soon said, and 
parting from his loved ones, whom he would 
not see for a month, the missionary gave the 
word to start, and they were off. 






The Missionary on his Journey. 207 

Murdo, the guide, ran on ahead on his snow 
shoes. The missionary came next. He had 
with him Oowikapun, the happiest man in the 
crowd. When the missionary could ride — 
which was the case where the route lay over 
frozen lakes or along stretches of the rivers — 
Oowikapun was his driver, and rejoiced at 
being thus honored. Following the mission- 
ary's train, came the other three in single file, 
so that those following had the advantage of 
the road made by the sleds and snowshoes in 
front. Where the snow was very deep, or a 
fresh supply had recently fallen, it sometimes 
happened that the missionary and all the In- 
dians had to strap on their snowshoes, and, fol- 
lowing in the tracks of the guide, tramp on 
ahead of the dogs, and thus endeavor to make 
a road over which those faithful animals could 
drag their heavy loads. 

When our travelers began to feel hungry a 
fire was quickly kindled, a kettle of tea pre- 
pared, and a hearty lunch of cold meat or 
pemmican was eaten and washed down with 
the strong tea. So vigorous are the appetites 
in that cold land, that often five times a day 



'^ 



ao8 



OOWIKAPUN. 



do the travelers stop for lunch. Then on they 
go until the setting sun tells them it is tin e to 
prepare for the wintry camp, where the night 
is to be spent. If they can possibly find it, 
they select a place where there are green bal- 
sam trees, and plenty of dry dead ones. The 
green ones will furnish the bed, while the dry 
ones will make the fire. 

When such a place is found a halt is called 
and everybody is busy. The dogs are quickly 
unharnessed and gambol about close to the 
camp and never attempt to desert. 

From the spot selected for the camp the 
snow is quickly scraped by using the great 
snowshoes as shovels. Then a roaring fire is 
made, and on it the kettles, filled with snow, 
are placed. In the larger kettle a piece of fat 
meat is cooked, and in the other one tea is 
made. While supper is cooking the dogs are 
fed. They are only given one meal a day, and 
that is at night. Two good whitefish consti- 
tute a meal. These are thawed out for them 
at the fire ; and after eating them they curl 
themselves up in their nests and sleep or 
shiver through the cold night as best they can. 






The Missionary on his Journey. 209 

The supper, which consists principally of fat 
meat, is then eaten, and after prayers prepara- 
tions are made for retiring. A layer of bal- 
sam boughs is placed on the ground ; on this 
the robes and blankets are spread ; and then 
the missionary, wrapping himself up in all the 
garments he can well get on, retires first and 
is well covered up by additional blankets and 
fur robes. So completely tucked in is he that 
it is a mystery why he does not smother to 
death. But somehow he manages to survive^ 
and after a while gets to stand it like an In- 
dian. Persons unacquainted with this kind of 
life can hardly realize how it is possible for 
human beings to thus lie down in a hole in the 
snow, and sleep comfortably with the tempera- 
ture everywhere from forty to sixty below zero. 
However, difficult as it is, it has to be done if 
the Gospel is to be carried to people so remote 
that there is no better way of reaching them. 
Such travelers are always thankful when a foot 
or eighteen inches of snow falls upon them. It 
is a capital comforter, and adds very much to 
their warmth. 
" One of the most difficult things in connec- 



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It 



* 



/ 



2IO 



OOWIKAPUN. 



tion with this kind of traveling is getting up. 
The fire which was burning brightly when 
they retired was but a flashy one, and so it ex- 
pired very soon, and did not long add much to 
their comfort. And now when morning has 
come, and they have to spring up from their 
warm robes and blankets, the cold is so terri- 
ble that they suffer very much. No wonder 
they shiver and quickly get to work. Soon a 
roaring fire is burning, and breakfast prepared 
and enjoyed. After morning prayers the sleds 
are packed, the dogs are harnessed, and the 
journey is resumed. 



I 



II 




I I 



The Missionary at Work. 



211 







CHAPTER XVI. , 
The Missionary at Work. 

f""' ?IGHT times was the wintry camp 

j 1—1 I made on this long trip, which was 
I = full of strange adventures and many 

hardships to every one of the party ; 
and so they were glad indeed when Murdo and 
Oowikapun told the others, on the ninth day, 
at about noon, that they were only six miles 
from Nelson River. 

This was indeed welcome news to all, es- 
pecially to the missionary. He had not had 
the severe physical training which naturally 
falls to the lot of an Indian. True, he had his 
own dog-sled, and was supposed to ride when 
possible ; but there were whole days when he 
had to strap on his snowshoes and march along 
in single file with his Indians, and, as happy 
Oowikapun put it in his broken English, " Good 
missionary help make um track." 

The result of this " make um track " busi- 
ness was that he was about wornout ere the 



\>. 






It 



212 



OOWIKAPUN. 



journey was ended. Several times had the 
cramps seized him in such a way that the 
muscles of his legs so gathered up in knots 
that he suffered intensely for hours. Then his 
feet were tender, and they chafed so under the 
deerskin thongs of the snowshoes that the 
blood soaked through his moccasins, and in 
many places crimsoned the snow as he bravely 
toiled along. More than once, as he had to 
stop and rest on a log covered with snow, did 
he question with himself whether he had done 
right in undertaking a journey so fraught with 
sufferings and dangers. 

Cheering, then, was the news that the jour- 
ney was nearly ended. A halt was called, a 
kettle of tea was prepared, and lunch was 
eaten with great pleasure. The dog drivers 
put on some ex'ra articles of finery of beauti- 
ful beadwork or silkwork, that they might ap- 
pear as attractive as possible. 

Very cordially were the missionary and his 
party welcomed by the great majority of the 
people. They were very much interested and 
excited when they found that the first mission- 
ary with the book of heaven was among them. 



1 



/ . 



The Missionary at Work. 



213 



J 



\ 



As many of the people were away hunting, 
runners were dispatched for those within 
reach. All of these Northern Indians live by 
hunting. They are beyond the agricultural 
regions. Their summers are very short. The 
result is, they know but little of farinaceous or 
vegetable food. There are old people there 
who never saw a potato or a loaf of bread. 
Their food is either the fish from the waters or 
the game from the forests. The result is, they 
have to wander around almost continually in 
search of these things. The missionaries have 
learned this, and endeavor to arrange their 
visits so as to meet them at their gatherings 
in places where they assemble on account of 
the proximity of game. While these meeting 
places are called villages, they do not bear 
much resemblance to those of civilization. 

As soon as the missionary had rested a little 
he paid a visit to the tent of Koosapatum, be- 
cause he had quickly heard of the dire threats 
of the old sinner. So gloomy was the interior 
of the wigwam that, as the missionary pulled 
back the dirty deerskin which served as a door 
and entered, he could hardly see whether there 



<r 



H 



. 



214 



OOWIKAPUN. 



/ 



was anybody in or not ; and no kindly word of 
greeting had been heard. However, his eyes 
soon got accustomed to the place, and then he 
was able to observe that the old conjurer and 
his wife were seated on the ground on the 
opposite side of the tent. With some tea and 
tobacco in his left hand, the missionary ex- 
tended his right, saying, *' What cheer, mis- 
mis f — the Indian for " How are you, grand- 
father?" 

The old fellow was cross and surly, and evi- 
dently in a bad humor, and most decidedly re- 
fused to shake hands, while he growled out 
words of annoyance and even threatening at 
the coming of a missionary among his people. 

The missionary, however, was not to be 
easily rebuffed, and so reaching down he took 
hold of his hand, and in a pump-handle sort of 
style gave it quite a shaking. Then taking up 
the tobacco, which, with the tea, he had 
dropped upon the ground, he quickly placed 
it in the hand of the morose old man. At first 
he refused to take it, but the missionary spoke j^ 
kindly to him, and after a little, as he had 
been out of the stuff for days, his fingers 



<i 



I ( 



. , ' 






The Missionary at Work. 



2IS 



closed on it ; and then the missionary knew 
that he had conquered in the first skirmish. 
Tobacco among these Indians is like salt 
among the Arabs. Knowing this, the mission- 
ary, who never used it himself, adopted this 
plan to make friends with the old conjurer. 

After he had taken the tobacco, the mission- 
ary took up the package of tea, and, looking at 
the dirty strips of meat which hung drying 
over a stick, said : " You have meat, and I 
have tea. If you will furnish the meat, I will 
the tea, and we will have supper together." 

The first thought of the old sinner, as he 
glanced at his medicine bag in which he kept 
his poisons, was : " What a good chance I shall 
now have to poison this man who has come to 
check my power! " However, the missionary 
saw that wicked gleam, and, being well able to 
read these men by this time, he quickly said : 
" Never mind your medicine bag and your 
poisons. I am your friend, even if as yet you 
do not believe it. I have come into your wig- 
wam, and you have taken my tobacco, and I 
offer to eat and drink with you, and poison me 
you dare not ! " 



w 



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2l6 



OOWIKAPUN. 



Thoroughly cowed and frightened that the 
white man had so completely read his 
thoughts, he turned around to his wife, and in 
imperative tones ordered her to quickly pre- 
pare the meat and the tea. So expeditiously 
was the work accomplished that it was not 
very long ere the conjurer and missionary were 
eating and drinking together. The old fellow 
said the meat was venison ; the missionary 
thought it was dog meat. 

Perhaps we cannot do better than to antici- 
pate the work a little and say that at some 
later visits this old conjurer was induced to 
give up all of his wicked practices and become 
an earnest Christian. He so highly prized the 
visits of the missionary that he followed him 
like his shadow. He attended all the services, 
and when, wearied out with the day's toil, the 
missionary prepared to rest, Koosapatum was 
not far off; and when the missionary knelt 
down to say his evening prayer alone, the now 
devout old man would kneel beside him and 
say :** Missionary, please pray out loud, and 
pray in my language, so that I can understand 
you." 



I 



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,1 ' 



The Missionary at Work. 



217 



Thus the Gospel had come to the heart and 
was influencing the life of even the conjurer of 
the Nelson River Indians. The service at 
which a great majority of the people decided 
for Christ was a very memorable one. It be- 
gan at about eight o'clock in the morning. 
The majority of the Indians in all that vast dis- 
trict were gathered there. 

Oovvikapun's people were among the crowd, 
much to his delight. Astumastao and her 
aunt had heard of the gathering, and required 
no second invitation to be on hand. Great in- 
deed was her joy to look again into the face, 
and hear the voice of a missionary. Very 
much surprised and bewildered was she at 
having been anticipated by some one who had 
succeeded in bringing in the missionary be- 
fore she had begun her journey for this pur- 
pose. And great indeed was her joy and 
delight, and deeply was she moved when she 
heard of the part Oowikapun had played in the 
important work. 

The meeting between the two was genuine 
and natural. The dream of her youth was 
now accomplished, for here, ready to begin the 



II 



2l8 



OOWIKAPUN. 



./ 



religious service, was the missionary, with the 
good book in his hand. His coming was 
the result of the efforts of Oowikapun. That 
she really loved him the conflicts of the last 
few weeks most conclusively answered. His 
bronzed, weather-beaten appearance showed 
something of the hardships of the long jour- 
ney, while his bright, happy face revealed to 
her how amply repaid he felt for all he had 
endured and suffered. 

As he entered the gathering assembly it was 
evident to all that his quick, eager eyes were on 
the lookout for some special friend. 

Not long had he to look. Astumastao and 
her aunt had come in from another wigwam, 
and were not very far behind him, and so were 
able to see how eagerly he was scanning the 
faces of those who had already assembled. So 
absorbed was he in scanning those in front 
that the noiseless moccasined feet of others 
coming in behind him were unheeded. 

For a moment Astumastao watched his wist- 
ful, eager looks, and well divining the mean- 
ing, with flushed and radiant face she advanced 
toward him and cordially exclaimed : ** My 



\»* 



The Missionary at Work. 



219 



i) 






brave Oowikapun ! " Startled, overjoyed, and 
utterly unconscious or careless of the hundreds 
of bright eyes that were on him, he seized the 
extended hands, and drawing her toward him, 
he imprinted upon her brow a kiss of genuine 
and devoted love, and exclaimed : " My own 
Astumastao ! " 

Tucking her arm in his as he had lately seen 
the white Christians do, he proudly marched 
with her up to a prominent place in the audi- 
ence, where they seated themselves, while the 
aunt for the present judiciously looked out for 
herself. 

It was a very picturesque assembly. In- 
dians dress in an endless variety of fashions. 
Some in their native costumes looked as stat- 
uesque and beautiful as the ancient Greeks ; 
others as ridiculous as a modern fop. 

All, however, were interested and filled with 
suppressed excitement. The first hour was 
spent in singing and prayer and in reading the 
word of God, or, as the Indians love to call it, 
the book of heaven. 

Then the Indians who had come from Nor- 
way House with the missionary, and who were 



1 



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220 



OOWIKAPUN. 



earnest Christians, told of how they had found 
the Saviour. Very clear and definite are many 
of the Christian Indians on this point. And 
as Paul loved to talk about how the Lord 
Jesus had met him while on the way to Da- 
mascus, so it was with many of these happy 
converted red men ; they love to talk of their 
conversion. 

To the great joy of the missionary, Oowika- 
pun asked for the privilege of saying a few 
words. At 'irst he seemed to falter a little, 
but soon he rose above all fear, and most 
blessedly and convincingly did he talk. We 
need not go over it again ; it was the story of 
his life, as it has been recorded in these 
chapters. Because of the words and resolves 
of Astumastao, he said, he had gone for the 
missionary ; and from this man, and from Me- 
motas and others, he had found the way of 
faith in the Son of God. Now he was trusting 
in him with a sweet belief that even he, Oowi- 
kapun, was a child of God like these other 
happy Christians who had spoken. 

After such an hour of preliminary services it 
was surely easy for that missionary to preach. 



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The Missionary at Work. 



221 



He took as his text the sixteenth verse of the 
third chapter of St. John's gospel. This is 
how it reads in Cree, which we give, that our 
readers may see what this beautiful language 
looks like : 

^^ Aspeeche saketat Kesa-Maneto askeeyou 
kah ke ooche maket oopay ye-koo-sah-ke aweyit 
katapua yaye mah kwa akah keche nese-wah 
nah-tee-sit maka kache at ayaky ka-ke-ka 
pimatissewiny 

It was a long sermon that was preached 
that day. For four hours the missionary ^ 
talked without stopping. He had so much to 
say, for here was a people v/ho had never 
heard the Gospel before, and were now listen- 
ing to it for the first time. Everything had to 
be made plain as he went along. So he had 
to take them back to the creation of the 
human family ; and tell them of the fall, and 
of the great plan to save the poor sinning race, 
who have got out of the right trail, and are 
wandering in darkness and death, and bring 
them back again into the right way, which has 
in it happiness for them here, and heaven 

hereafter. 
15 



II 



Z22 



OOWIKAPUN. 



X 



Thus the missionary talked hour after hour, 
wishing to bring them to a decision for Christ 
at once. He dwelt upon the greatness and 
impartiality of God's love, and urged them 
that as his love was so real and blessed, they 
should accept of him now, at the first great in- 
vitation. 

The ever-blessed Spirit carried home to the 
hearts of these simple people the truths ut- 
tered, and deep and genuine were the results. 
After more singing and prayer the missionary 
asked for some of them to candidly tell what 
was in their hearts concerning these truths, 
and what were thei* wishes and resolves in 
reference to becoming Christians. ^ 

To write down here all that was said that 
day would require several more chapters ; 
suffice it to say that, from the chief, who spoke 
first, through a successioii of their best men. 
they v/ere all thankful for what they had 
heard, and said that these things about the 
Great Spirit " satisfied their longing," and, as 
one put it, " filled up their hearts." 

Thus the Gospel had reached Nelson River, 
and rapidly did it find a lodgment in the 



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The Missionary at Work. 



223 



■\ 



■-11 



hearts of the people. At the close of the 
second service about forty men and women 
came forward to the front of the assembly and 
professed their faith in Christ and desired 
Christian baptism, the meaning of which had 
been explained to them. And thus the good 
work went on day after day, and many more 
decided fully for Christ. 

Do not, my dear reader, say this work was 
too sudden, and that these baptisms were too 
soon. Nothing of the kind. It was only 
another chapter in the Acts of the Apostles, 
and in perfect harmony with what is stated by 
infallible Wisdom. There it is recorded of the 
multitudes, after one sermon by Peter, " Then 
they that gladly received his woid were bap- 
tized : and the same day there were added 
unto them about three thousand souls." 



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224 



OOWIKAPUN. 



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4iiaiiBiiBiiaiiBiii 



CHAPTER XVII. 
Norway House Revisited. 

"'\F couise Oowikapun and Astumastao 
fj I were married. Everybody was in- 
vited, and of course everybody came 
to the wedding, and to the great 
feast that followed. Very kind and devoted 
was he to her, even as Memotas had been to 
his wife. The excitement of the arrival of 
the missionary after a time died away, but the 
good results continue to this day. Although 
at times slowly, yet constantly has the good 
work gone on, and none who at the beginning 
decided for the Christian life have ever gone 
back to the old pagan religion of their fore- 
fathers. So much had Oowikapun to say 
about Memotas that he resolved if possible to 
see that blessed man once again. And to As- 
tumastao also there came a longing desire to 
visit the spot to which now. more than ever, 
her memory turned, where that period, all too 
brief, in her childhood days had been spent, 



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Norway House Revisited. 



227 



where in the home of the missionary, and in 
the house of God she had learned the sweet 
lessons which had never entirely been for- 
gotten, and which had " after many days " pro- 
duced such glorious results. 

The longed-for opportunity came the next 
summer, and was gladly accepted. 

So successful had been the fur hunters in 
their trapping the fur-bearing animals such as 
the silver foxes, beavers, otters, minks, and 
others whose rich pelts are very valuable, that 
the Hudson Bay Trading Company resolved to 
send up to Norway House a second brigade of 
boats to take up the surplus cargo left by the 
first brigade, and also to bring down a cargo 
of supplies for the extra trade, which was so 
rapidly developing. Oowikapun was appointed 
steersman of one of the boats, and his wife 
was permitted to go with him. 

With great delight were they both wel- 
comed at Norway House Mission. They had 
had a long, dangerous trip. Many rapids had 
to be run where the greatest skill was required 
■"- safely steering the little boats, but Oowika- 
pun was alert and watchful and did well. 



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228 



OOWIKAPUN. 



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Twenty-five or thirty times did they have to 
make portages around the dangerous falls and 
rapids. . >* 

The joy of Astumastao on reaching the 
place where she had spent that eventful year, 
so long ago, was very great indeed. Absorbed 
in bringii ^ •; the memories of the past she 
seemed at ti*A 3 like one in a dream. To find 
the playmates of that time she had to search 
among those, who now, like herself, had left 
the years of childhood far behind. Many of 
them had gone into the spirit land. Still she 
found a goodly number after a time, and great 
indeed was their mutual joy to renew the 
friendships of their earlier days. And great 
indeed was the pleasure of all to meet the 
wife of that Indian who had visited the mis- 
sion in the depth of that cold winter to plead 
for a missionary, especially when they learned 
that it was because of her earnest resolve that 
he had undertaken the long, cold, dangerous 
journey. ,,, 

They were welcome visitors at the mis- 
sion house. Sagastaookemou and Minnehaha 
seemed intuitively to love them, much to their 



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Norway House Revisited. 



22^ 



delight, and as gravely listened as did the older 
people to the recital of some of the thrilling 
incidents of their lives. The services of the 
sanctuary were " seasons of sweet delight," 
and in them much was to be learned to be 
helpful in times to come. 

Of course the little home of Memotas was 
visited. Their hearts were saddened at find- 
ing the one, who for years had not only, as the 
missionary's most efficient helper, often minis- 
tered to the mind diseased, and brought com- 
fort to the "^in-sick soul, but had often, as in the 
case of Oowikapun, when bitten by the savage 
wolf, skillfully restored to health and vigor 
many suffering ones, now rapidly himself 
hastening to the tomb. 

But although he was feeble in body he was 
joyous in spirit, and had the happy gift of 
making everybody happy who came to see 
him. Even in his last illness this remarkable 
man was a " son of consolation." For months 
ere he left us, he lived in an atmosphere of 
heaven, and longed for his eternal home. Only 
once after the arrival of Oowikapun and As- 
tumastao did he have sufficient strength to go 



nx 



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230 



OOWIKAPUN. 



with them to the house of God. Every In* 
dian within twenty miles of the sanctuary was 
there that bright Sabbath morning. Wan and 
pale and spiritual looked the saintly man who 
seemed to have just, by the strength of his will, 
kept the soul in the frail earthen vessel, that 
he might once again worship in the earthly 
sanctuary, ere he entered into that which is 
heavenly. 

When with an effort he raised himself up to 
speak the place was indeed a Bochim, for the 
weepers were everywhere. One illustration 
used by him has lingered with me through all 
these years. He said : " I am in body like the 
old wigwam that has been shaken by many a 
storm. Every additional blast that now 
assails it only makes the rents and crevices 
the more numerous and larger. But the larger 
the breaks and openings, the more the sunshine 
can enter in. So with me, every pang of suf- 
fering, every trial of patience, only opens the 
way into my soul for more of Jesus and his 
love." 

How he did rejoice as they talked with him 
and rehearsed the story of how the Lord had 






Vx 



Norway House Revisited. 



231 



I I 



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vv,. 



so wonderfully led them out of the darkness of 
the old way into the blessed light of the new. 

At Astumastao's request Oowikapun told 
Memotas of his wonderful dream, and of the 
deep impression it had made upon him. Me- 
motas listened to its recital with the deepest 
interest, and stated what many others have 
said, that they believed that still, as in ancient 
times, the good Spirit in loving compassion 
speaks in dreams to help or warn those who 
have not yet received enough of the divine 
revelation to be completely guided by it. At 
his feet sat those two happy converts, and, as 
did many others, learned from his rich testi- 
mony many blessed truths. 

Happy Memotas ; only a little while longer 
did he tarry with us. A little additional cold 
was all that was needed to finish the work in 
a constitution so nearly shattered. When he 
felt it assailing him there came very clearly to 
him the presentiment that the end was near. 
And never did a weary traveler welcome his 
home and bed of rest with greater delight than 
did Memotas welcome the grave and the bliss 
beyond. 



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232 



OOWIKAPUN. 



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The prospect of getting to heaven seemed 
so glorious that he could hardly think of any- 
thing else. This was now his one absorbing 
thought. 

Like all the rest of these Northern Indians, 
he was very poor, and had nothing in his home 
for food of his own but fish. But there were 
loving hearts at the mission house, and so 
willing hands carried supplies as needed to 
his little habitation. 

On one occasion, when that dear, good 
missionary, Rev. John Semmens, who had 
gone with me, as together we had lovingly 
supplied his wants, said to him : " Now, 
beloved Memotas, can we do anything else for 
you ? Do you want anything more ? " 

" O, no," replied Memotas ; " I want nothing 
but Christ. More of Christ." 

When we administered to him the emblems 
of the broken body and spilt blood of the dear 
Redeemer, he was much affected, and ex- 
claimed, " My precious Saviour. I shall soon 
see him." 

Seeing his intense longing to go sweeping 
through the gates of the celestial city, I said 



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Norway House Revisited. 



233 



to him : " Memotas, my brother beloved, why 
are you so anxious to leave us ? I hope you 
will be spared to us a little longer. We need 
you in the Church and in the village. We want 
your presence, your example, your prayers." 

He was a little perplexed at first, and 
seemed hardly to know how to answer. Then 
he looked up at me so chidingly, and gave me 
the answer that outweighs all arguments : ** I 
want to go home." 

And home he went, gloriously and triumph- 
antly. His face was so radiant and shining 
that it seemed to us as though the heavenly 
gates had swung back, and from the glory 
land some of its brightness had come flashing 
down, and had so illumined the poor body 
that still held in its faltering grasp the pre- 
cious soul, that we could almost imagine that 
mortal itself was putting on immortality. 
The triumphant death of Memotas was not 
only a revelation and a benediction to Oowi- 
kapun and Astumastao, and many other 
Christian Indians, but it caused the full and 
complete surrender of many hard, stubborn 
hearts to Christ. 



\\ 



234 OOWIKAPUN. 

So short a time had our hero and heroine 
been in the way that, happy as they were in 
/ their present enjoyment of the favor of God, 
they had had their fears as they thought of 
the last enemy which is death. In the 
quietude of their wigwam home they had 
asked themselves, and each other, the solemn 
question, Will this religion sustain us in the 
valley and shadow of death ? or, How will we 
do in the swellings of Jordan? Natural and 
solemn are these questions, and wise and 
prudent are they in all lands who thoughtfully 
and reverently ask them. 

Comforting and suggestive were the answers 
which they and others had learned at the bed- 
side of the triumphant Memotas. 

"As thy days, so shall thy strength be," had 
a new meaning to them from that time for- 
ward, and so as they reconsecrated themselves 
to God, they resolved in the divine strength 
to obtain each day sufficient grace for that 
day's needs — and who can do any better? 

Very anxious was Astumastao to learn all 
she could about housekeeping and other 
things which would more fully fit her for 



\v 



Norway House Revisited. 



235 



helping her less fortunate Indian sisters at the 
distant Indian village, who, now that they 
had become Christians, were also trying to at- 
tain to some of the customs and comforts of 
civilization. 

Thus very quickly sped the few weeks 
during which the brigade of boats waited at 
Norway House for their return cargo, which 
had to come from Fort Garry. When this ar- 
rived all was hurry and excitement. Two or 
three days only were required to unpack from 
the large cases or bales the supplies, and re- 
pack them in " pieces," as they are called in 
the language of the country. These pieces 
will each weigh from eighty to a hundred 
pounds. The cargos are put up in this way 
on account of the many portages which have 
to be made, where the whole outfit has to be 
carried on the men's shoulders, supported by 
a strap from the forehead. It is laborious 
work, but these Indians are stalwart fellows, 
and now being homeward bound, they worked 
with a will. 

Most of them were at this time Christians. 
So they tarried at the mission for a little time 



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236 



OOWIKAPUN. 



to say " Farewell " and to take on board Astu- 
mastao and two or three other Indian women, 
who had been wooed with such rapidity that 
ere the short visit of a few weeks rolled round 
all arrangements had been made and some 
pleasant little marriage ceremonies had taken 
place in our little church. 

These marriages were a great joy to Astu- 
mastao as her intensely practical character saw 
that the coming to her distant country of some 
genuine Christian young women would be very 
helpful in the more rapid extension of Chris- 
tianity. Indeed, "Dame Rumor," who lives 
there as well as elsewhere, said that she had a 
good deal to do in introducing some of the shy, 
timid bachelor Indians of the Nelson River 
brigade to some of the blushing damsels whom 
she had, in her judgment, decided would make 
good wives for them and also be a blessing in 
their new homes. Various amusing stories 
were flying about for a long time in reference 
to some of the queer misadventures and mixing 
up of the parties concerned ere everything was 
satisfactorily arranged and everybody satisfied* 
Among a people so primitive and simple in 



1 ; 



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Norway House Revisited. 



237 



their habits this could quickly be done, as no 
long months were required to arrange jointures 
or marriage settlements, or a prying into the 
state of the bank accounts of either of the par- 
ties concerned. 

But all these things have been attended 
to, and the long journey begun. It was a 
matter of thankfulness that no boats were 
smashed on the rocks or lives lost in the raging 
waters. The women looked well after the 
cooking of the meals and tho mending of gar- 
ments torn in the rough portages. Every 
morning and evening they read from the good 
book and had prayers. Often in the long 
gloaming of those high latitudes, when the 
day's work was done, they clustered around the 
camp fire on the great, smooth granite rocks, 
with the sparkling waters of lake or river in 
front, and the dense, dark forest as their back- 
ground, and sweetly sang some of the sweet 
songs of Zion which they had lately learned 
or were learning from these young Christian 
wives whom the wise Astumastao had intro- 
duced among them. 

The three Sabbaths which had to be spent 
16 



i . 



238 



OOWIKAPUN. 



on the journey were days of quiet restfulness 
and religious worship. It is a delightful fact 
that all of our Northern Christian Indians rest 
from their iuntings and jo jrneyings on the 
Lord's Day. ii.nd it has been found, by many 
years of testing, that the Christian Indians who 
thus rest on the Sabbath can do more and 
better work in these toilsome trips for the 
Hudson Bay Company than those brigades 
that know no Sabbath. 

The longest journey has an end. The far- 
away home was reached at last. The goods, 
in capital order, were handed over to the 
officer of the trading post. The men were paid 
for their work, and supplies were taken up for 
the winter's hunting, and one after another of 
the families dispersed to their different hunt- 
ing grounds, some of which were hundreds of 
miles away. 

Oowikapun, with Astumastao and her 
aunt, went with a number whose wigwams 
were so arranged on their hunting grounds 
that they could meet frequently for religious 
worship among themselves. Very blessed and 
helpful to them was this little church in the 



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Norway House Revisited. 



239 



wilderness. And now here we must leave 
them for the present. They had their trials 
and sorrows as all have. Even if their home 
was but a wigwam, it was a happy one with 
its family altar and increasing joys. 

They had never become weary of talking 
about the wonderful way in which their lov- 
ing heavenly Father has led them out of the 
dark path of the old life into this blessed 
way. v« 

The only question on which they differed 
was which had had more to do in bringing 
the Gospel to their people. Astumastao said 
it was the visit of Oowikapun ; while he de- 
clared if it had not been for her true, brave 
life and faithful words, and her endeavor to 
live up to what light she had received when a 
little child, they might all have been in dark- 
ness still. And I think my readers will 
believe with me that I think Oowikapun was 
right when he so emphatic ally argued that to 
Astumastao more than to anyone else was to 
be given this high honor. 

So, while in our storv we have given 
Oowikapun such a prominent place, yet to 



240 



OOWIKAPUN. 



Astumastao, we think our dear readers with us 
will say, must be given the first place among 
those who have been instrumental in having 
the Gospel introduced among the Nelson 
River Indians. 



THE END. 




LIBRARY 



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